Hardcover, 320 pages
Published May 24th 2011 by Atheneum
Agnes Wilkins is standing in front of an Egyptian mummy, about to make the first cut into the wrappings, about to unlock ancient (and not-so-ancient) history.Maybe you think this girl is wearing a pith helmet with antique dust swirling around her.Maybe you think she is a young Egyptologist who has arrived in Cairo on camelback. Maybe she would like to think that too. Agnes Wilkins dreams of adventures that reach beyond the garden walls, but reality for a seventeen-year-old debutante in 1815 London does not allow for camels—or dust, even. No, Agnes can only see a mummy when she is wearing a new silk gown and standing on the verdant lawns of Lord Showalter’s estate, with chaperones fussing about and strolling sitar players straining to create an exotic “atmosphere” for the first party of the season. An unwrapping.
This is the start of it all, Agnes’s debut season, the pretty girl parade that offers only ever-shrinking options: home, husband, and high society. It’s also the start of something else, because the mummy Agnes unwraps isn’t just a mummy. It’s a host for a secret that could unravel a new destiny—unleashing mystery, an international intrigue, and possibly a curse in the bargain.
Get wrapped up in the adventure . . . but keep your wits about you, dear Agnes. – Goodreads
My Opinion: This was a fun read. It was an interesting mystery and I liked the historical aspect. It was fun to see the mix of Egyptian history put in with the British/French war. It was fun to see how Napoleon was viewed by the British at that time period. I really liked the whole espionage aspect as well. It was interesting to see how Agnes and her partner would try to lose the person who is following them to see who the actual double agent is.
Agnes was also a really interesting character because of how restricted her life would have been had she actually wanted to follow the norms for women at the time. I love that she spoke so many languages and had all of these dreams and hopes to see the world. The setting was also pretty interesting because what she had to do for the time, all the sneaking around and the fun I think she was having with that.
Overall, I really hope that this will be a series because the ending was amazing and left an opening for a series in my opinion that could lead to a popular series.
Overall: 4.75 out of 5
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