A work of historical fiction set in the 15th century BCE, Mara, Daughter of the Nile draws from the author’s careful research and features at least three real-life figures from Egyptian history: Queen Hatshepsut, King Thutmose III, and Count Senmut. Many of the biographical details surrounding these three fictionalized figures are accurate; for instance, Hatshepsut did indeed wear a ceremonial beard on her chin after assuming the role of pharaoh around 1479 BCE, and her steward Senmut was the chief architect of many of her building projects, including the iconic temple at Deir el-Bahari and her twin obelisks at Karnak. Also, as in the novel, the Egyptian empire suffered a series of military crises shortly before the queen died in 1458 BCE, owing mostly to a coalition of hostile states led by the king of Kadesh, a city in northern Syria.

However, for the purposes of her story, the author has taken considerable artistic license with other details of Hatshepsut’s reign. For instance, Mara repeatedly refers to Thutmose III as Hatshepsut’s brother, when, in fact, he was her stepson. The author seems to have conflated him with Thutmose II, Hatshepsut’s half-brother and husband, who died in 1479 BCE—after which the queen was crowned regent and ruled alongside her two-year-old stepson, Thutmose III.