Guest Post & Giveaway: Stephanie Dray, author of Lily of the Nile
Please welcome Stephanie Dray, author of a new historical novel, Lily of the Nile!
by Stephanie Dray
Cleopatra’s daughter was born at the cusp of a religious awakening and came of age in a dangerous political world. She was orphaned at the age of ten, taken prisoner, marched through the streets in chains, and held as a royal captive within the household of Augustus Caesar. All this tragedy certainly touched my heart, but what motivated me to write a novel about Selene was that her story is ultimately one of bittersweet triumph.
The little evidence we have of her life tells us that she was a girl who never forgot her grief for her dead family. It also tells us that she feared she might be the last survivor of a glorious dynasty. But ultimately, Selene looked forward. She was a survivor and the things she had to do to survive weren’t always pretty.
Like her more famous mother, this young girl also forged important alliances with the Romans and charmed her way into power. It may even be argued that she did so more successfully, and with less bloodshed. Though she never returned to her mother’s Egypt, she did go on to become the most powerful client queen in the Roman empire. As co-ruler of grain-rich and culturally diverse Mauretania, she played a central role in helping to secure the century of relative peace and prosperity that would be known as the Pax Romana.
[amazonify]0425238555[/amazonify]But Selene’s importance may have to do more with her religious influence than with her statecraft. Today, we take for granted the concept of personal spirituality or a relationship with god. In much of the ancient world, however, religion was a covenant between the state and the divine realm. Insofar as personal or household gods existed for the Romans, worship was more orthopraxy than orthodoxy. That is to say, the emphasis was on correct ritual rather than on faith or intimate prayer. For the early Romans especially, religion was more a matter for men than women.
All of this started to change with the rise of henotheistic mystery cults, and as a forerunner of Christianity, the Isiac (or Isian) religion was one of the few in the ancient world to concern itself with social justice. In challenging temporal authority, the spread of Isiac worship nurtured a nascent concept of personal spirituality without which our world might be very different today. And were it not for the influence of Cleopatra Selene as the foremost proponent of Isis during the Augustan Age, such a transition may never have taken hold.
In spite of her role in fostering a religion that paved the way for modern day spirituality, the historical record of Cleopatra Selene’s remarkable life is scant. Plutarch, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius give us only brief but tantalizing clues. It was for this reason that I imagined the truth of Selene’s story with touches of magic realism, and so far, it’s been well-received!
What did luxury mean to Selene and what does it mean to Stephanie?
As for luxuries, Selene had a few. We know that she and her husband Juba made a fortune by selling outrageously expensive purple dye. But my luxury is even less practical: I love shoes. I have at least thirty. Now, if I actually wore all those shoes, perhaps I could justify them. But since I have weak ankles, high heels are totally out. Yet, I love to look at them. Occasionally, I like to wear them from the car, into a restaurant, and back. And some of them are too painful to wear even that long. They’re just for show. But for some reason, I can’t seem to get rid of them!
About Stephanie Dray
Stephanie Dray is the author of a projected trilogy of historical fiction novels set in the Augustan Age, starting with Lily of the Nile. Before she wrote novels, Stephanie was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the transformative power of magic realism to illuminate the stories of women in history and inspire the young women of today. She remains fascinated by all things Roman or Egyptian and has–to the consternation of her devoted husband–collected a house full of cats and ancient artifacts.
Stephanie is currently sponsoring the Cleopatra Literary Contest for Young Women, the deadline for which is March 1, 2011, but join her newsletter now for updates and a chance at sneak previews and other prizes.
Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of Lily of the Nile AND a little ankh charm to remind them of Cleopatra Selene!
Mandatory entry: Please comment here and tell me something you enjoyed about this guest post.
Extra entries (please post each entry separately, i.e. 2 posts for subscribing):
- Subscribe via e-mail, follow or subscribe to the feed. You must verify the subscriptions. (1 entry each)
- Enter another current giveaway and tell me which one you entered (1 entry each)
- Share this giveaway on a social network of your choice. Click the “Share/Save” button at the bottom of this post (1 entry each)
- Grab the Gift Guide button for your blog (right side bar, 2 entries)
This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on February 28, 2011.
Giveaway copy is provided free of any obligation by Stephanie Dray. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Authors, Giveaways, Guest Posts
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I like Stephanie’s shoe luxury. I just got my first pair of Crocs and think I’ve found a new shoe luxury too!
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I enjoyed Stephanie’s shoe luxuries. I love shoes, so I can relate.I also love the explanation of religion during the Ancient Roman Days. Celebrations, feasts and rituals seem to be social events, as well as religious!
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I enjoyed learning about the author and also someone with a different background unlike mine.
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I like following authors as they blog about their books and also the various reviews that are done. Each post brings out a different aspect of the book or the characters within the story. This is the first mention of Selene’s adult life I have read. Her marriage, role in governing and religion are interesting aspects of her life and influence. I had not thought of her more than a child who grew up as a roman captive.
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I think it’s interesting that Selene sold purple dye. I didn’t know she had a business.
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Sounds like a mysterious, historical, thriller? Hope to win and check it out. LIke the theme.
[...] Author Stephanie Dray has stopped in with a guest post about her new book, Lily of the Nile. As in Cleopatra’s daughter. (Did you know Cleopatra had a daughter?) [...]
I don’t usually read Cleopatra era books, that era just doesn’t do it for me, but this books sounds quite exciting and like a fun read.
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I have seen both of the movies, ‘Cleopatra with Claudette Clobert (on TV) and with Elizabeth Taylor. I would love to learn more about her daughter. It intrigues me that even Liy was taken captive and never returns to Egypt, she still became co-leader of Mauretania. She must have learned quite a bit from her mother.
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I haven’t read much about Cleopatra and nothing about her children, so this would be refreshing to read and learn more about. I love the movie, Cleopatra, but that is about as far as my knowledge of the time period goes
. It has just never been a time period I felt compelled to look into further, but after reading the synopsis for this book and all the wonderful reviews online I am ready to dig in. Thanks for the review and giveaway!
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I have been dying to read this book – I find the historical character of Selene to be fascinating. One thing I really enjoyed about this post was the information about the religious aspect – I did not know this though I had seen it alluded to in other posts about this book. I admire Selene as a girl and a woman and enjoy the stories about her. I hope I win
I love shoes as well but because of balance issues (ok, I’m clumsy) I have to wear either low heals or platforms, no sexy stilettos for me.
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Please include me in the giveaway. Interesting subject. Love reading about Egypt and Cleopatra. I’ve never heard anything about a daughter. This sounds fascinating. Thank you.
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I like learning more about Selene-I knew she was orphaned and held captive but I did not know her story as an adult.
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Hehehe. I’m still smiling from the shoe comments. =)
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I think the info about this Isian religion that concerned itself with social justice is fascinating. It looks like a great historical novel, about an interesting female. With Egypt being in the news so much, it seems timely as well.
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It was interesting to read how much of a survivor this young girl was, so I’d love to read this book.
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What a great spin on an incredible history! I love ancient Egypt and Cleopatra!! I would love to win this book! Thank you for the chance to win.
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How timely..a book about Ancient Egypt…sounds like a great read.
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I loved this book. Selene was an ancient feminist.