I Am Cleopatra
This reimagining of Cleopatra’s life begins in her youth and ends with the aftermath of Julius Caesar’s death. From childhood, Cleopatra spends time in the massive collection of scrolls housed in her beloved Library of Alexandria. She and Charmian, her personal slave, grow up together and develop a special bond that is integral to Solomon’s story. In a court teeming with enemies and court intrigue, Cleopatra becomes wise in political strategy and the power struggles that will dominate her rule. Her intelligence and ambition serve her well.
Her father, Auletes, needs Roman legions to defend his throne from domestic unrest. Now Egypt is indefinitely trapped in their indebtedness to Rome. Upon Auletes’ death, he appoints Cleopatra and her eldest brother Ptolemy as co-rulers, which engenders hate and suspicion between them and a divided rule. Caesar is in Egypt, and Cleopatra, by seduction, hopes to have the advantage over Ptolemy, but he holds to the dual rule.
Told in two first-person narratives, Cleopatra and Servilia (also Caesar’s lover), we have a dimensional perspective of these two women’s inner lives and their complex interactions. The novel’s focus is on Cleopatra as she strategizes and battles to uphold her throne and divinity, and her vulnerability shows in her personal relationships. Solomons’ prose surrounds the reader in the luxury and grandeur of this world. The sights are vivid and the smells visceral. Memorable is her opulent trip along the Nile – a display of power. Her ships are gilded and fashioned as swans and fish, “lit with a galaxy of candles… rival[ing] the moon and stars. The hundreds of boats become a thousand in reflection” with “purple sails shot through with silver thread.” Strong emotions are evoked when Solomons writes of the role of Brutus, Servilia’s son, in Caesar’s assassination, and the devastating aftermath that Cleopatra and Servilia experience. Solomon’s novel shines in an abundance of Cleopatra retellings.
