What do readers think of Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran? Write your own review.

I enjoyed reading Cleopatra's Daughter. It was easy to read. I learned more about life in Rome and about Egypt. I kept forgetting that Selene & Alexander were not even teenagers yet when they went to Rome, Even though they were more mature at eleven than I was, there were still times that showed how young they were. It was interesting to see life through their eyes.

I’ve always been interested in Kleopatra (as she spelled her own name) and I’ve read at least one book about her, but I didn’t remember a daughter, so I was quite excited to get this book. I wasn’t disappointed.

Opening with the end of Kleopatra’s life and ending with Kleopatra’s daughter’s marriage, this book imagines what life would have been like for Kleopatra Selene, called Selene, in the years after her mother and father’s deaths.

Octavian takes Selene and her twin brother, Alexander, to his own court and they are treated as part of his extended family. They go to school, they make friends, they create lives for themselves.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you will find a lot to like about Cleopatra’s Daughter. Michelle Moran does a great job of making ancient Rome seem real and modern, while also maintaining its historical perspective.

There are similarities between ancient Rome and modern day United States that she points out in the Historical Note at the end, so you’ll definitely want to read that. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Kleopatra and ancient Roman history, she also includes an Afterword that fills you in on what happened to the rest of the characters after the end of the book.

I don’t rate that many books a 5, but I’d give this one a 5. I am going to get the author’s other books next. I can’t wait to see how she handles the life of Nefertiti.