At thirteen years of age, Nefertari, Nefertiti's sister Mutny's only child, becomes the wife of the fifteen-year-old Ramesses, destined to become Ramesses the Great. Her reign is tumultuous, filled with war and conquest and dangerous childbirths. But it is also filled with great power and success over her chief rival Isetnofret. She is the wife of the greatest builder in Egyptian history, and the queen under whom Moses revolts. This is the story of Nefertari's transformation from a wild palace child doing and learning what she pleases to a powerful queen whose only rival is the beautiful but cruel Isetnofret. Discovered running wild by Ramesses' great-aunt and trained to become Egypt's most cunning and disciplined queen, The Heretic Queen is full of intrigue and court politics. The major players in the novel are Nefertari, her dead mother Mutnodjmet, Ramesses II, Isetnofret, Moses, and a powerful pair of great-aunts working for opposite ends, Henutmire and Woserit.
