Cleopatra's Shadows - Softcover

Evocative, immersive and engrossing. These characters lived and breathed their lives beyond the page and I could feel them in the room with me. The historical setting was excellent too and an integral part of the story. As a story of women each vibrant in her own way, it was also a case of damned if you did and damned if you didn't, but I loved seeing how they worked through their circumstances. The author conveyed a real sense of the knife-edge on which they lived. I truly loved it. (Elizabeth Chadwick)

Magnificent... The vivacity, the verve, the sense of bone deep truth of the writing - all are superb. Some writers seem destined to unearth the truth of a time and a place and a set of people: Mary Renault and Alexander, Hilary Mantel and Thomas Cromwell and now Emily Holleman and the last generation of Ptolemies. There's a freshness to the prose that is truly captivating, and a dynamism to the narrative that gives life to the people whose names are otherwise a footnote in history. (Manda Scott)

Cleopatra is a minor character in this novel, with Holleman telling the story from the points of view of Bernice and Arsinoe. This produces an engaging story of family dynamics, trust and politics, as both sisters try to survive in the new world. An excellent debut from Holleman about two sisters often forgotten by history. (Sydney Morning Herald)