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The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt Audiobook
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An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power. Hatshepsut—the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne—was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father’s family. Her failure to produce a male heir, however, paved the way for her improbable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just over twenty, Hatshepsut out-maneuvered the mother of Thutmose III, the infant king, for a seat on the throne, and ascended to the rank of pharaoh.
Shrewdly operating the levers of power to emerge as Egypt's second female pharaoh, Hatshepsut was a master strategist, cloaking her political power plays in the veil of piety and sexual reinvention. She successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt’s most prolific building periods.
Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power—and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. The Woman Who Would Be King traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.
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“Witha youthful and energetic cadence, Egyptologist Kara Cooney introduces thelistener to the far-off, mysterious world and times of ancient Egypt during theEighteenth Dynasty, when a lone woman, Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BC), dressed,acted, and ruled as a male pharaoh…Although not a professional narrator, Cooney brings awelcome enthusiasm to creating an accessible, modern-feeling portrait of awoman who didn’t settle for being queen but became a king.”
— AudioFile
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“The Woman Who Would Be King is a fascinating look at one of the most formidable and successful women in all of ancient history. Before Cleopatra there was Hatshepsut. Now, thanks to Kara Cooney, the real Hatshepsut stands before us in all her glory. For the first time we have a full-length biography of her that is not only a great scholarly work but also a marvelous read.”
— Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire -
“Engrossing and compulsively readable.”
— Time -
“Cooney does a fantastic job of breathing new life into her subject and showing the woman who dared to keep herself and her nephew Thutmose III on the throne, as well as what led Hatshepsut’s name to be tarnished and nearly erased from history. The book will be of great interest to those fascinated by ancient Egypt, history, and women’s history.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“The life of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s second female pharaoh, was replete with opulent living, complex royal bloodlines, and sexual energy; in short, the kind of drama that fuels Ancient Egypt’s enduring appeal…From Hatshepsut’s self-perception, political prowess, and lifestyle emerge an image of the ‘ultimate working mother’ and a compelling insight into ancient gender roles.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Cooney re-creates the life of ‘the first woman to exercise long-term rule over Egypt as a king’…Cooney’s detective work finally brings out the story of a great woman’s reign.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Highly engrossing… [an] informed-by-expertise, compellingly written conjecture that will draw curious readers in with its vivid depiction of life in ancient Egypt and a truly remarkable woman.”
— BookPage
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About Kara Cooney
Kara Cooney is an associate professor of Egyptian art and architecture at UCLA in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. In 2005, she was co-curator of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Cooney produced a comparative archaeology series with her husband, Neil Crawford, entitled Out of Egypt, which aired on the Discovery Channel and is streaming on Netflix.