One thing that is necessary in order to properly review this book, and yet something which does not affect its final score at all, is its historical accuracy. Gedge covers it very well through her lavish descriptions which set the scene and bring us up to speed without feeling too rushed, but nevertheless I think the story probably could have been improved if Hatshepsut’s story had been extended over more books/pages. We get too many significant time skips for my liking, leaping ahead by several years in certain places.

Gedge has written truly excellent standalone novels in her time, but in this case Hatshepsut really does seem like too big of a subject to take on in one book, because the pacing is a little off here. If I had to put the lack of polish down to a root cause, it would be the magnitude of the book’s subject: Hatshepsut. And it isn’t that her signature creative flair and linguistic mastery is missing – it shines through here, strong as ever. There is a definite sense of lack of polish compared to the books she wrote after this one. If you’re more familiar with her later works, such as the Lords of the Two Lands trilogy, published in 1998, or the King’s Man trilogy, published in 2007, you will probably notice a difference here. Child of the Morning is Pauline Gedge’s debut novel, written way back in 1977. I therefore felt it was time for a re-read and a new review.

I first read this book many years ago, and it was one of the first books I reviewed on Goodreads.

Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge