Cleopatra Confesses

Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer, 289 pages

This fictionalized account of Cleopatra’s life follows her from the time she is ten up through her death at age 39.  As a child, Cleopatra was favored by her father over her two older sisters, both of whom were terribly jealous of Cleopatra.  Although neither was truly suited to rule Egypt, both wanted to be queen.  Cleopatra, who often snuck off to mingle with the common people felt like she understood the Egyptian people and, even at age 10, thought she would be a better ruler than any of her sisters.  Of course, Cleopatra does come to rule eventually, marrying first one, than the other of her brothers, but taking two Romans as lovers, Julius Caesar and Marcus Antony, having children with both of them.  The history of the book is as accurate as the author could make it with the limited resource material available, however, this story is told from Cleopatra’s point of view, so of course much of the story is fictionalized.  This is a good book for teens who like historical fiction.