A FORGOTTEN EGYPTIAN GODDESS. A FAMILY IN DANGER.

Victorian Egyptologist Clemmie’s dark talents have torn her family apart. Now she has one chance to atone for the past.

Clemmie’s gift for reading hieroglyphs shines at the Egyptian relic parties which have made her father the toast of Victorian society. But at one party, the words she interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. The childhood game she used to play about the immortal sisters, Isis and Nephthys, takes on a devastating resonance and it is only by following Nephthys’ story back to Egypt that she can undo the mistakes of the past.

‘An irresistible page-turner’ Susan Stokes-Chapman, author Pandora
‘An intoxicating tale of adventure and obsession’ Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
‘A joy of a book’ Fiza Saeed McLynn, author of The Midnight Carousel

Readers ADORE Nephthys:

‘A total page-turner! … Wow! What darkness this book holds!’
‘Unique and gripping…. this tale of Egypt and England was full of twists and turns.’
‘A captivating blend of Victorian society, ancient Egypt, and dark secrets.’

‘A master storyteller’ Sunday Times

‘No one does adventure quite like Smith’ Daily Mirror

‘Best historical novelist’ Stephen King

WILBUR SMITH RETURNS WITH A BRAND-NEW EGYPTIAN SERIES EPIC

Since his appointment as Nomarch of Memphis, by the God-Pharaoh Rameses, Piay has thrown himself into pulling the city back from the brink. The famous white city walls have been rebuilt, the once starving inhabitants fed and every day caravans have arrived from the desert wastes, filled with the many riches looted and hidden by the Hyksos. But when the body of a murdered scribe is found sealed inside the newly constructed city vault – the mark of Anubis, god of death, scrawled next to him in his own blood – panic sweeps the city. Only the wisest man in all Egypt can solve this mystery – Piay’s mentor, the great sage Taita.

Called from his place at the God-Pharaoh Rameses’ side, Taita’s arrival in Memphis calms the populace, but it isn’t long before the mark of Anubis appears again, and again. Taita and Piay are drawn into a battle of wits against a criminal mastermind turned warlord, his aim – with the demise of the Hyksos – to see the kingdom of the Red Pretender restored and the forces of Rameses crushed.
Will everything that Taita has fought for be torn asunder? Or will he and Piay finally reunite the two kingdoms? Only time will tell. And time is running out.

Book 4 in The New Kingdom Sequence and book 10 in the Ancient Egyptian series from the master historical adventure writer, Wilbur Smith.

‘Brilliantly delicate, pointed, shivery… You could read it as a guide to which galleries to avoid – or to where the push for repatriation should be most urgent.’ – Erin L. Thompson, professor of art crime at the City University of New York

‘Achieves a near-impossible marriage between paranormal pop-culture, folklore and hauntology’ – Roger Clarke, author of A Natural History of Ghosts

‘A heady cocktail of history and folklore that leaves a haunting aftertaste… Spine-tingling’ – Lindsey Fitzharris, New York Times bestselling author of The Facemaker

‘A reader might well do as Angell did himself: come for the delicious ghost stories but stay for a complete takedown of the British Museum project.’ The New Statesman

What if the British Museum isn’t a carefully ordered cross section of history but is in instead a palatial trophy cabinet of colonial loot – swarming with volatile and errant spirits?

When artist and writer Noah Angell first heard murmurs of ghostly sightings at the British Museum he had to find out more. What started as a trickle soon became a deluge as staff old and new – from overnight security to respected curators – brought him testimonies of their supernatural encounters.

It became clear that the source of the disturbances was related to the Museum’s contents – unquiet objects, holy plunder, and restless human remains protesting their enforced stay within the colonial collection’s cabinets and deep underground vaults. According to those who have worked there, the institution is heaving with profound spectral disorder.

Ghosts of the British Museum fuses storytelling, folklore and history, digs deep into our imperial past and unmasks the world’s oldest national museum as a site of ongoing conflict, where restless objects are held against their will.

It now appears that the objects are fighting back.

Sister. Rival. Protector.

Quiet and reserved, Clemmie is happy in the background. Although her parents may overlook her talents, her ability to read hieroglyphs makes her invaluable at the Egyptian relic parties which have made her father the toast of Victorian society.

But at one such party, the words Clemmie interprets from an unusual amulet strike fear into her heart. The beautiful and dangerous glyphs she holds in her hands will change her life forever.

Five years later, Clemmie arrives in Egypt on a mission to save what remains of her family. The childhood game she used to play about the immortal sisters, Isis and Nephthys, has taken on a devastating resonance and it is only by following Nephthys’ story that she can undo the mistakes of the past.

On her journey up the Nile she will meet unexpected allies and enemies and, along with long-buried secrets and betrayals, Clemmie will be forced to step into the light.

*Reveal the secret symbol of Nephthys when you take off the book jacket. Only available on the first printing*

‘A dazzling debut and an irresistible page-turner. With an unforgettable heroine you cannot help but root for’ Susan Stokes-Chapman, author Pandora

‘An intoxicating tale of adventure and obsession, told in prose that shimmers like the Nile’ Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

‘So beautifully descriptive that I could imagine myself drifting down the Nile with Clemmie. A joy of a book to read’ Fiza Saeed McLynn, author of The Midnight Carousel

On your journey, you will uncover the deep history of a land steeped in myth and magic, from the era of the great pyramid builders and gods of ancient Egypt to the dramatic invasion of Napoleon and the continuing allure of Egypt today. Along the way, you will encounter:

Tongue-twisting anagrams
Famous Egyptians past and present
Gods and Goddesses, Pharaohs and Queens
Word walls and wordsearches
‘Scribal’ – ancient Egypt’s answer to Wordle
True-or-false trickery in an ancient doctor’s surgery
Bingo calls in the Valley of the Kings
Pyramids of the world – but can you recognize them all?

Infused with Egyptology expertise, rich historical detail and featuring over seventy puzzles, games and quizzes of varying difficulty, this book is a treasure trove for quiz enthusiasts and budding Egyptologists alike. So grab your ink and papyrus and try, if you dare, to solve the Riddle of the Sphinx.

Explores the ideals, symbolism and ideology of Egyptian kingship and uncovers the stories behind the objects and images left as a legacy by this ancient civilisation.

The rulers of ancient Egypt were not always male, nor always Egyptian. At times, Egypt was divided by civil war, conquered by foreign powers or ruled by competing kings. While some kings were revered – such as Thutmose III who expanded Egypt’s empire to its largest extent – the memory of others was officially erased. Many of the objects surviving from ancient Egypt project the image the pharaoh wanted us to see – however this book explores the reality and the many challenges of ruling one of the greatest civilisations the world has ever seen.

After an introduction into the historic and geographic timeframe of the ancient Pharaohs, the book explores royal iconography, decoding the insignia worn and held by the king, or the names and titles covering most royal monuments. The core of the book investigates the main roles of the king, as high priest, as the head of the royal family, as the administrative ruler of the country and as the leader of the army and diplomat. Following an investigation into the preparation for the king’s eternal life, from the rituals to the building of a tomb, the book closes on a contemporary perspective from Egypt and how the notion of the Pharaoh still resonates today.

The book covers 3,000 years of history – highlighting research on key pieces from the British Museum’s outstanding collection of Egyptian antiquities.

‘Brilliantly delicate, pointed, shivery… You could read it as a guide to which galleries to avoid – or to where the push for repatriation should be most urgent.’ – Erin L. Thompson, professor of art crime at the City University of New York

‘Achieves a near-impossible marriage between paranormal pop-culture, folklore and hauntology’ – Roger Clarke, author of A Natural History of Ghosts

‘A heady cocktail of history and folklore that leaves a haunting aftertaste… Spine-tingling’ – Lindsey Fitzharris, New York Times bestselling author of The Facemaker

What if the British Museum isn’t a carefully ordered cross section of history but is in instead a palatial trophy cabinet of colonial loot – swarming with volatile and errant spirits?

When artist and writer Noah Angell first heard murmurs of ghostly sightings at the British Museum he had to find out more. What started as a trickle soon became a deluge as staff old and new – from overnight security to respected curators – brought him testimonies of their supernatural encounters.

It became clear that the source of the disturbances was related to the Museum’s contents – unquiet objects, holy plunder, and restless human remains protesting their enforced stay within the colonial collection’s cabinets and deep underground vaults. According to those who have worked there, the institution is heaving with profound spectral disorder.

Ghosts of the British Museum fuses storytelling, folklore and history, digs deep into our imperial past and unmasks the world’s oldest national museum as a site of ongoing conflict, where restless objects are held against their will.

It now appears that the objects are fighting back.