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A review by ergative
The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters
3.5
This would have been a 4* read, except for the reappearance of fat-shaming as a character device, in two separate instances. One is to represent the decadence of a queen, or perhaps an othering exoticism of a different culture; the other is to represent the downfall of a woman’s physical form to mirror her PPD leading to mental destruction at having been put in an incredibly difficult situation. That last revelation was actually very touching, and would have worked well if it hadn’t been realized through fatness-is-bad.
But aside from this, it was a rollicking tale, back in Egypt, and playing with a novel trope for the series. Now the archaeology is living! A hidden civilization, descended from the ancient Egyptian royalty, unknown to Western eyes—and, indeed, Arabs before them—but not fully hidden, because they did a bit of colonizing themselves and enslaved the Nubians who lived where they settled.
There is, indeed, a bit of an interesting structural thing going on here, with respect to cultural and imperial contacts: the Egyptians destroy the indigenous Nubians, but at the same time are in fear of the encroaching British who threaten their own way of life. Something quite sensible could have been done with this, but in the end I think Peters either didn’t quite see it, or else couldn’t quite make it work. She had written herself into a bit of a corner with the wealth of previous books that use Amelia’s British certainty in her rightness as a bit of a joke of characterization. Now that there’s some complexity to be explored, she can’t really give it full justice in a narrative that purports to be from Amelia’s own perspective from her own diaries.
For example, there are hints throughout that the Nubians are planning an uprising against the oppressive Egyptian royalty. Amelia is all for it (Emerson teases her about her socialist sympathies)—but in the end the main revolutionary figurehead just ends up being one of the heirs to the throne, and Amelia and Emerson’s efforts are pivotal in helping him ascend to the kingship. The white saviors rescue the monarchy, and the monarch has no plans to free the Nubians. The fact that the oppressed slave race actually had no hope of freedom or revolution at all is not even touched upon. Instead, the rightness of the new king’s rule is presented as important because he has knowledge of the West, having travelled outside his hidden kingdom, and he will need this knowledge to help prepare his people for the inevitable time when the white colonizers discover his kingdom. The fact that he takes the throne, in the end, by perverting a ceremony that is supposed to identify through religious ritual the true king, does not go unremarked: Emerson calls him a usurper, in fact, but they both agree that he’s the best king for the job, no matter how corruptly he got it.
I mean, there’s a parallelism here! There’s a commentary to be made about rightness to rule, and whether that rightness descends from ability vs. heredity vs. might, which can be applied equally to this kingship and the British Empire. And in a subtler book I would think it was done subtly and elegantly. But somehow, I feel like in this book it’s more accidental than intentional, because if we look at how things shake out, it really seems like the message is, ‘if you can seize the power and are the smartest person who knows best for your country, then go forth and oppress whoever you want! The modern-ancient Egyptians are doing it to the Nubians, and the West will do it to them.’ If Amelia’s lip service to socialist sympathies was truly meant, she might reflect on this, and ask whether the new king’s victory is really best for all the people; and from there it’s a short step to ask whether British exceptionalism, which she does believe in, is really best for all the Empire. But she doesn’t. She congratulates herself on a job well done, and regrets the inevitable encroaching arrival of the West not so much for human rights reasons, as for the loss of a preserved archaeological specimen.
But let’s end on a more entertaining note. I am enjoying the female gaze, I must say. Amelia is constantly commenting upon men’s musculature, and Emerson never misses a chance to lose or rip open his shirt. Peters never misses a chance to go all the way when she decides on a bit.
But aside from this, it was a rollicking tale, back in Egypt, and playing with a novel trope for the series. Now the archaeology is living! A hidden civilization, descended from the ancient Egyptian royalty, unknown to Western eyes—and, indeed, Arabs before them—but not fully hidden, because they did a bit of colonizing themselves and enslaved the Nubians who lived where they settled.
There is, indeed, a bit of an interesting structural thing going on here, with respect to cultural and imperial contacts: the Egyptians destroy the indigenous Nubians, but at the same time are in fear of the encroaching British who threaten their own way of life. Something quite sensible could have been done with this, but in the end I think Peters either didn’t quite see it, or else couldn’t quite make it work. She had written herself into a bit of a corner with the wealth of previous books that use Amelia’s British certainty in her rightness as a bit of a joke of characterization. Now that there’s some complexity to be explored, she can’t really give it full justice in a narrative that purports to be from Amelia’s own perspective from her own diaries.
For example, there are hints throughout that the Nubians are planning an uprising against the oppressive Egyptian royalty. Amelia is all for it (Emerson teases her about her socialist sympathies)—but in the end the main revolutionary figurehead just ends up being one of the heirs to the throne, and Amelia and Emerson’s efforts are pivotal in helping him ascend to the kingship. The white saviors rescue the monarchy, and the monarch has no plans to free the Nubians. The fact that the oppressed slave race actually had no hope of freedom or revolution at all is not even touched upon. Instead, the rightness of the new king’s rule is presented as important because he has knowledge of the West, having travelled outside his hidden kingdom, and he will need this knowledge to help prepare his people for the inevitable time when the white colonizers discover his kingdom. The fact that he takes the throne, in the end, by perverting a ceremony that is supposed to identify through religious ritual the true king, does not go unremarked: Emerson calls him a usurper, in fact, but they both agree that he’s the best king for the job, no matter how corruptly he got it.
I mean, there’s a parallelism here! There’s a commentary to be made about rightness to rule, and whether that rightness descends from ability vs. heredity vs. might, which can be applied equally to this kingship and the British Empire. And in a subtler book I would think it was done subtly and elegantly. But somehow, I feel like in this book it’s more accidental than intentional, because if we look at how things shake out, it really seems like the message is, ‘if you can seize the power and are the smartest person who knows best for your country, then go forth and oppress whoever you want! The modern-ancient Egyptians are doing it to the Nubians, and the West will do it to them.’ If Amelia’s lip service to socialist sympathies was truly meant, she might reflect on this, and ask whether the new king’s victory is really best for all the people; and from there it’s a short step to ask whether British exceptionalism, which she does believe in, is really best for all the Empire. But she doesn’t. She congratulates herself on a job well done, and regrets the inevitable encroaching arrival of the West not so much for human rights reasons, as for the loss of a preserved archaeological specimen.
But let’s end on a more entertaining note. I am enjoying the female gaze, I must say. Amelia is constantly commenting upon men’s musculature, and Emerson never misses a chance to lose or rip open his shirt. Peters never misses a chance to go all the way when she decides on a bit.