Cleopatra
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley March 11, 2026
Author Saara El-Arifi.
Distributor: Amazon
ISBN: 9780008697211
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers. Imprint The Borough Press.
Release Date: February 2026
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A Novel.
Cleopatra: a woman who changed the course of an Empire, a woman who has travelled down through the ages, still as vibrant, intriguing and mysterious as she was when she ruled Egypt. A woman who found herself ruling at a young age, something she never wanted to do, making changes to the way society moved, caring for her younger brothers, future Pharaoh’s, and sisters, loving deeply and passionately, which almost bought ruin to her beloved country.
Saara El-Arifi has had Cleopatra sitting on her shoulder for many years, whispering, teasing the author to write her story; the true story of Cleopatra VIII and eventually she has done so in this absolutely captivating story of fact and fiction blended together to create what could readily be considered as told to her by none other than Cleopatra.
Very little has remained in evidence of the life Cleopatra purported to have lived other than a small parchment signed by her; Shakespeare gave her eternal life in Anthony and Cleopatra, a timeless tale of love, loss and treachery, but who was she.
As the tale unfolds, she becomes a woman of flesh, determination with a burning desire to change the way society viewed the role of women; she made changes that were unpopular, waged war as needed and loved deeply her lovers, husbands and children.
Winding through the years of her tumultuous regime is something almost mystical that seemed to guide her in her darkest and most challenging hours, guarded her against the worst of the treachery that was aimed directly at her and now, hundreds of years later, presents her once again to a new world.
Who is she; who was she; you or another and as she says so eloquently ‘look within and you will see me. I am every woman scorned, every woman wronged.’
Cleopatra from Saara El-Arifi is a stunning novel of a woman who faced much, toiled endlessly and is now happy to allow her real story, her story, to be bought to life once again.
Brilliant.