Tuya has lived a fascinating life. As a young girl, she met Mother Nyla and the course of her rather mundane life changed forever. One harrowing event after another peppers Tuya’s life, and she handles each of them with all the fortitude of a woman who has lived a thousand lifetimes. Tuya is both curious and determined, and she uses her past to guide her forward. Wise well beyond her years, she manages to survive an event that destroyed her home and start over on her own.

The first book in the Alexandria Scrolls trilogy by Lukman Clark is titled In Her Own Words. This novel is a retelling of the story of Hypatia of Alexandria. This exceptionally detailed fiction tale written in the form of an autobiography follows Tuya through her life beginning at the age of eleven. Readers are treated to a thorough look at Tuya’s life and are able to follow her from childhood well into middle age. Clark has done an amazing job of detailing his main character’s experiences for readers. Through her various name changes to her ultimate identity as Hypatia, Clark’s main character meets fascinating personalities from a seer to Theophilus who becomes immediately taken with her.

Clark’s work is descriptive, historically accurate, and holds vivid imagery which gives readers beautiful mental pictures of Tuya’s surroundings and her incredible journey through time. The fact that Clark chose to use his main character’s voice to tell her story only serves to make this an even more compelling read. The focus on the library of Alexandria makes this book both unique in its genre and a must-read for history buffs.

The author has included an ideal mix of narrative and dialogue. While the exchanges between characters are poignant, at times there are breaks from the time period, and the characters’ words sound more modern than one would expect. There aren’t too many of these instances, but there were enough that I found them to be distracting and took a little away from the story.

I recommend Clark’s work to anyone who enjoys reading about ancient Egypt but prefers to absorb it in narrative form. Clark’s main character, who comes to be known as Hypatia, carries the story from beginning to end and will fascinate readers throughout the book. It is clear that Clark has done thorough research and turned Tuya into a character readers will not soon forget.

Pages 265