I hear other things. I hear Jessie and the Tall Man talking about money. I don’t want money, I want happiness. I slide my hand into my pocket under the blanket and my fingers touch the Ancient Egyptian general’s gold pendant necklace and his ram’s head gold ring. Even in the dark I can feel their beauty and that is why I stole them.
But I am not an imbecile. I know they have great value. I won’t give them to Jessie now. Not yet. But when I do, maybe she will love me again.
Reading Group Questions for Shadows on the Nile
Who was your favourite character and why?
Who was your least favourite character and why?
Were you interested in Egyptology before you read this book, and/or has it piqued your interest in the subject?
Can you imagine yourself in Jessie’s situation, having to adapt to a new brother? How would you react?
Do you think it was right of Tim to take Georgie to Egypt?
Does this book make you want to read the Sherlock Holmes stories or find out more about Conan Doyle, or were you a fan anyway?
Were you resistant to the romance unfolding between Jessie and Monty when he was still potentially untrustworthy?
Where do you stand on the issue of ancient artefacts being in a museum or left as they are?
What were you most relieved about when it was resolved?
Did all the plot twists take you by surprise, or did you see any of them coming?
KATE FURNIVALL on her RESEARCH PROCESS
Research. It is a word that gets my heart thumping with excitement. From the moment that I set off on the long and winding road that is signposted RESEARCH, anything and everything is possible. I have no idea who or what I will meet along the way or, more importantly, whether I will discover the kind of details that will make my story jump off the page.
For Shadows On The Nile I started with books, with photographs and film footage, to get the feel of the 1930s. Only when I had assembled a good body of material together did I pursue the further details on the internet. I watched on YouTube a political speech by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and the horrific clashes in Trafalgar Square in 1932 between the police and the union marchers against the imposed Means Test. Such moments are invaluable to me to gain a feel for the mood of Britain at the time.
But primarily it was Egypt that I needed to explore, with all its historical glories. I knew exactly where I wanted to start – with Howard Carter and his discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. That was my way in. Wherever possible I like to use primary source material for research, and fortunately Howard Carter left an abundance of it, detailing his work in Egypt in the 1920s and 1930s around the time my story takes place. I am in awe of men like Mariette, Petrie, Pitt Rivers, Carter and now Hawass, who have done so much over the years to excavate and protect its heritage. Each has a fascinating story to tell.
Then came Egypt’s history. I studied the long line of pharaohs and learned who were the peaceful ones and who the warriors. I read about the wars they waged against the Hyksos and the Hittites, vividly depicted in their temples and tombs, and about the schism between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Particularly fascinating was the breathtakingly bold decision of King Akhenaten in the 14th century BC to uproot his court and worship only the god Aten, forcing monotheism onto a society that had previously worshipped many gods.
Years ago I was entranced by Norman Mailer’s gigantic opus on Egypt, Ancient Evenings, so it was with immense pleasure that I delved once more into the mass of stories and myths that surround their ancient gods. I learned again of Kheper, the dung beetle pushing the sun across the sky, of Osiris and Isis, of birth and rebirth, and of the long and tortuous journey to the afterlife. They are magical tales, and it was hard to limit myself to no more than snatches of them here and there in my book.
In order to discover what life was like in early 20th century Egypt, I sought out autobiographies and accounts written by people who lived there at that time. Often it is just a small detail that can trigger an idea that I can run with or even spark a whole scene in my mind. I have always loved history, so it was with great interest that I turned my attention to the political situation of the period, pursuing the tug-of-war that had existed for hundreds of years between varying foreign powers, as they jostled for ownership of Egypt.
It was an odd coincidence that when I undertook my own research trip to Egypt in November 2011, the country chose that moment to erupt in Tahrir Square in Cairo, where I was staying. So I saw at firsthand their anger. I spoke to people there and was impressed by their courage and determination to have free elections, especially after all I’d discovered about their recent history during my research.
There is nothing like seeing a place with your own eyes, registering its sights and smells with your own senses. Books and films cannot compare. So I followed the same trail my characters would take – the long bumpy train journey from Cairo to Luxor, riding on a camel and sailing a felucca down the Nile. Breathing in the same crisp dry air and feeling the constant presence of the desert just a heartbeat away. Nothing had prepared me – however many pictures I had seen – for the impact of the interior of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. I hope I have conveyed a sense of this in Shadows On The Nile.
And Georgie?
What research did I do for my dear Georgie? I talked to people who deal with these problems on a daily basis, and I read in depth about autism. I used the internet to open up this world to me. I admit that I did take some liberties when portraying Georgie, and I never use the word autism – it wasn’t around in those days. There are different levels of severity, but in the 1930s there seemed to be no option but to hide those affected away in institutions. Let’s be grateful that society is better informed and more broad-minded in that respect now and let us remain vigilant that it expands ever further towards acceptance.
What I love about research is that time and again it takes me places that I didn’t know I wanted to go. Always there are surprises for me. And for you too, I hope.
WHY SHERLOCK HOLMES?
The decision to include references to Sherlock Holmes in Shadows On The Nile was an easy one. Once I had constructed my plot, I knew I needed one character to lay a trail of clues for his sister to follow. So I had to find a subject for these clues that would resonate with the reader.
Instantly the inimitable Sherlock Holmes leapt to mind. He is the supreme master of spotting clues and interpreting each stain on a sleeve or scuff on a shoe. Who else could conjure up such realities out of flimsy hints and fragile threads? I decided that the sleuth of 221B Baker Street was the perfect subject on which to base my own clues.
I have always loved his adventures, so the chance to make use of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories in my own book was irresistible. I first fell in love with Sherlock (I feel I know him well enough to presume to use his first name) when I was about nine years old. I was at school and my teacher was off sick that day, so a spare student-teacher was dragged in to keep us quiet, and she did so by perching on the front of the table that acted as the teacher’s desk, crossing her knees nervously and reading to the class the story of The Adventure of the Speckled Band. I was spellbound. Never had I encountered such rational thinking or such intensity of purpose in a character. Exactly the qualities I now want in my heroine, Jessie Kenton.
Over the years I devoured the rest of the exploits of Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr Watson, which during Conan Doyle’s lifetime were published in The Strand Magazine – illustrated by the beautiful line drawings of Sidney Paget.
It comes as no surprise that films, television and radio all jumped onto the lucrative bandwagon to immortalise his name for each new generation. I have loved so many of them, but my two favourite portrayals came from the great Basil Rathbone – he shared with Sherlock a perfect profile and a penchant for disguise which served him well when he worked as an intelligence officer in World War I – and from Benedict Cumberbatch, with his quick intelligence
and high cheekbones. For the purists among you out there, you might like to know that seventy-four different actors have so far played the part of Sherlock Holmes on film and stage.
My decision to use pointers from some of the stories meant that I had the perfect excuse to dust off my set of Sherlock Holmes books (four novels and fifty-six short stories) on the shelf and once again relish crossing swords with the indomitable Irene Adler et al. Once I got started, it was tempting to scatter clues like confetti – it became a game that gave me pleasure – but I restrained myself and most of them ended up on my study floor. But I do believe that it is important for an author to entertain herself/himself while writing, as much as to entertain the reader. That way, we both enjoy the book!
Conan Doyle’s stories were so popular at the beginning of the 20th century that it is perfectly feasible that Jessie and her two brothers would be very familiar with them. There is no doubt in my mind that the logical reasoning of Sherlock Holmes would particularly appeal to Georgie’s orderly mind. It all slotted into place in a way that I feel Sherlock would have been satisfied with, and I hope you will enjoy this added layer of intrigue as much as I did.
Elementary!
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