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.
