The Collector's Daughter

A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb

By: Gill Paul

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Gill Paul returns with a brilliant novel about Lady Evelyn Herbert, the woman who took the very first step into the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and who lived in the real Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle, and the long after-effects of the Curse of Pharaohs.

Lady Evelyn Herbert was the daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, brought up in stunning Highclere Castle. Popular and pretty, she seemed destined for a prestigious marriage, but she had other ideas. Instead, she left behind the world of society balls and chaperones to travel to the Egyptian desert, where she hoped to become a lady archaeologist, working alongside her father and Howard Carter in the hunt for an undisturbed tomb.

In November 1922, their dreams came true when they discovered the burial place of Tutankhamun, packed full of gold and unimaginable riches, and she was the first person to crawl inside for three thousand years. She called it the “greatest moment” of her life - but soon afterwards everything changed, with a string of tragedies that left her world a darker, sadder place.

Newspapers claimed it was “the curse of Tutankhamun”, but Howard Carter said no rational person would entertain such nonsense. Yet fifty years later, when an Egyptian academic came asking questions about what really happened in the tomb, it unleashed a new chain of events that seemed to threaten the happiness Eve had finally found.

©2021 Gill Paul (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Do not read if you are over 70 and married

Very sad with no redemption qualities even if you are fascinated by Egypt and the Pharonic history

Just ok

I finished the book and it was an ok story overall. Moved a little slowly and just not my kind of book. I didn’t like the narrator in a few of the voices she didn’t particularly in regards to the character with the stroke and the same character who is excited. Was disappointed with the ending and some of the story choices.

Good Book

Hate that it jumps back and forth in Time. Good book interesting plot. Good narration.

A book worth reading

A novel you will not want to miss. The author does not disappoint with an insightful look into the past and entertainment. You won’t want to miss. The narration is exquisite and you find yourself unable to stop listening. I highly recommend this title. :-)

Tomb Raiders

Having traveled to Egypt in 1984 and visited many of the places described in this historical fiction, I enjoyed reading about the discovery of the burial place of Tutankhamun and its curse.

Narrator Ruins a Great Story

The narrator's overwrought style almost made
me laugh sometimes. I would characterize the performance in this way: !!!!!!!!

Great read!

Loved this book. Especially the way it went back and forth between the period around the time of the discovery of King Tut's Tomb and its aftermath and forward to Evelyn's (The Collector's Daughter) later years. I could relate to it in so many ways.
First, I've always found Egyptology and the tombs of pharaohs fascinating. The revelation of the secret desecration of Tut's tomb and the pilfering of artifacts by Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and even Evelyn was evidence of their disrespect, and Britain's in general, for a country just given independence from British rule, at least in name. It also shows Carter's dishonesty in apparently attempting to present the tomb as already defiled in the hope of obtaining permission to remove half of the finds from the country, in accordance with the license agreement in play at the time. He failed but surreptitiously removed multiple items that have subsequently shown up in museums around the world. The apparent extent of this has been made evident to me by further reading that was inspired by this book.
As a young college student, I backpacked though Europe in the summer of 1972, starting in London where I actually visited the British Museum and saw the incredible display of items from King Tut's tomb. It was the first time many of these antiquities, including, I believe, the gold death mask of Tutankhamun, had ever been shown outside of Egypt. The mask and some other artifacts never leave Egypt now. Unfortunately, I was too immature and uninformed at the time to realize how fortunate I was.
Finally, Evelyn's strokes and her efforts to overcome them brought to mind my father's stroke late in his life and how difficult it can be to overcome the devastating consequences.
All in all, a great read and one that is likely to stimulate further interest in this fascinating subject.

Disappointed

I expected much more. No depth, no excitement. I was so looking forward, I do love Egyptology. Just did not hit any marks for me.

Don't waste any time on this at all!

No story here at all and incredibly annoying narration. Awful! I kept hoping for anything vaguely original but was totally disappointed

Disappointing

I’m a huge Gill Paul fan-even preordering this book…and Imogen Church could read the ingredients on a paint can & I’d listen, so I assumed this one would be a home run- but it was a hot mess. I’m not even sure what the actual premise was. Don’t waste the credit- and I don’t say that lightly.