Pharaoh: the boy who conquered the Nile, by Jackie French

 When Jackie French’s Pharaoh first came across my desk, it failed to grab my attention. The cover did little for me and the blurb on the back cover also failed to impress me party because it basically laid out the whole story. Mind you, the subtitle of the book pretty much tells you what happens in the end anyway.

Then it was shortlisted for the CBCA awards. Given how prolific Jackie French is, I thought it was time I read something of hers, so why not this one? Maybe I jumped the gun when I judged it by its cover.

I’m glad to report, that my cover-based judgement was wrong. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I loved the book, but there was something about it that kept me hooked and I struggled to put it down. This is even more notable given, as I said earlier, that the title of the book tells you where the story is going, and the blurb fleshes out the story a fair bit too. It is the story of Prince Narmer, heir to the throne of Thinis, a town on the Nile. It is set in the time before Egypt became one nation, before pyramids and all the other images that spring to mind when we think of ancient Egypt. Narmer is forced to give up his right to the throne and leaves his homeland. However, he ends up returning and, you guessed it, unites the towns on the Nile and becomes the first Pharaoh.

To a certain degree it is based on historical fact. There was a Pharaoh called Narmer and he was probably the first Pharoah. There was a town called Thinis. That is pretty much all that is known. The good thing is that the author spends some pages at the end of the book explaining the historical context of the story, which elements are based on known facts, and which required some guesswork or imagination.

I am still a little surprised that I enjoyed this one and am struggling to put my finger on what it is that grabbed me. But the fact remains that I enjoyed the read and am happy to recommend it.