Despite its misleading cover, this is a charming story of society London in the 1920s, influenced by the discoveries in Egypt, particularly the famous tomb of Tutankhamen. Much of the narrative is interspersed with memories of that great find and the events surrounding it. It also touches on the horror of World War I and the ‘forgotten’ soldiers suffering from shell shock. A nice portrait of women’s lives at a time of social upheaval and a man’s life at a time of emotional disturbance.
London in the glittering twenties. Iris Barrington, the daughter of a rich industrialist, lives a luxurious but lonely existence. Her mother is dead, her father Elmer is interested only in his art collection and his building projects. Beneath her conventional life, with its parties and its craze for all things Egyptian, she longs for escape. When Samuel Dux comes into her life, fresh from the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb, she sees her chance.
But Samuel brings with him a troubling secret, one that stems from a dark moment in Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. It is a secret that threatens his own future and that of Iris too. An enthralling love story that spans the world of the 1920s, from London’s high society and its artistic life, to Howard Carter’s famous excavation in the Valley of the Kings, The Weighing Of The Heart is a tale of passion, buried betrayals and devastating truths.
Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature and joined the BBC as a journalist. She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as a broadcaster on Radio 4. She is married with three children and lives in London. Her previous novels are Patrimony and The Shell House.
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