Three Queens

This lushly detailed historical novel tells the story of the tenth-century Byzantine princess Theophano, who ruled as empress during the last days of the Roman Empire. Her story is told through the eyes of her companion and adviser, Aspasia, a widow and royal princess in her own right. At eighteen years old, Theophano is sent to become the wife of Otto II, the Holy Roman Emperor, and must win the devotion of her new husband and people. Meanwhile, Aspasia begins a dangerous love affair with Otto the Great's Moorish physician. When Otto II is unexpectedly killed in battle, the kingdom is left to his infant son, and Empress Theophano must fight one of the greatest wars of succession of the Dark Ages to protect her realm from the throne's rival, Henry of Burgundy.

Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, was the most powerful woman of the ancient Mediterranean and the only person standing between Rome and its dominion over the world. She was wife to Julius Caesar and bore his only son. After his death, she took his greatest general, Mark Antony, as her lover and consort-and as her partner in a vast political enterprise. Together, they strove to unite Egypt and Rome under one throne. Throne of Isis shows us an extraordinary woman wielding the power to which she was born. Here is the Cleopatra who took the throne of Egypt and held it, despite Rome, for nearly thirty years. Here is the woman who spoke twelve languages, studied philosophy and the arts, and could debate with the greatest scholars of the age. Here is the woman who fell in love with a man she meant to use. And here is historical fiction at its best.