Under Hatshepsut, the first female pharoah, Egypt experienced an era of unprecedented prosperity and expansion. And yet, no sooner did she pass away than many rushed to efface all trace of her life, often literally, in the name of history. This layered novel alternates between a chronicle of her fate and that of Idalie, a present-day farmer's daughter interested in Egypt. Centuries separate them as girls and then women, but their struggles against discrimination to have their true worth fairly acknowledged echo across the ages.