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'''''Mara, Daughter of the Nile''''' is a YA novel by Eloise McGraw that is equal parts espionage thriller and romance novel, set in Ancient Egypt. The plot follows the slave girl Mara as she is sold by her brutal master, only to find herself drawn into two rival plots that involve the throne of Egypt. While at first acting only for herself, Mara finds herself falling for one of her two masters and believing in his cause. But maintaining her tenuous double life grows more and more difficult, and her failure to do so has consequences that change the course of Egypt's history.
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* [[Ancient Egypt]]: Naturally
* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Thutmose and Inanni. Neither are very happy with the idea.
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* [[Blue Eyes]]: Mara has them. Some view them as evidence that she is part-demon, some (like Sheftu) find them attractive, all find them highly unusual. This last bit ends up being highly inconvenient for her.
* [[Boxed Crook]]: Sheftu ''thinks'' Mara is this, as he believes her to be a runaway slave. In reality, she was bought and employed by his archnemesis and he has no hold on her whatsoever. Well, except for [[The Power of Love]].
* [[Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl]]: Inanni ''wants'' to be the gentle girl to Thutmose's brooding boy, but Thutmose only sees her as his [[Unwanted Spouse|Unwanted]] [[Funny Foreigner]] [[Disposable Fiance|Fiancee]].
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: Count Senmut and Lord Naresh are portrayed as the Ancient Egyptian nobility version of this.
* [[Cunning Linguist]]: Mara, whose fluency in Babylonian lands her in the position of interpreter for the princess.
* [[Dating Catwoman|Dating Batman]]: Mara finds herself falling for the heroic Sheftu, even though betraying him to the queen's agents would bring her rich rewards, including freedom and wealth.
* [[Deadly Decadent Court]]: Hatshepshut's court is portrayed like this: being made up of Hatshepsut's hangers-on--most of whom are out for their own profit, those secretly loyal to Thutmose--most of whom are out for their own profit, and [[
* [[Double Agent]]: Mara. Also Sahure.
* [[Everyone Can See It]]: Sheftu is ''very'' annoyed when he realizes that he and Mara are this--to the point that a drunken [[
* [[Every Man Has His Price]]: This is basically Sheftu's life philosophy, and he's proven right time and again, only for him to discover Mara is {{spoiler|being tortured because [[Subverted Trope|she refused to betray him for a bribe]]}}.
* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Played with in that Count Senmut is definitely a villain, but seems loyal to his queen (although he's looking out for himself first and foremost).
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* [[Hollywood History]]: While the details of day to day life in Egypt are mostly correct, the book portrays Hatshepsut as Thutmose's half-sister, while she was really his stepmother, and casts her as a power-hungry villainess, whose vanity threatens to bankrupt Egypt. Modern historians view her as an excellent ruler who actually had a good relationship with Thutmose.
* [[Informed Flaw]]: We are repeatedly told that Sheftu is nothing special to look at. But since most of the book is from Mara's point of view and she thinks he's the hottest thing since desert bonfires, it doesn't have a lot of impact. Incidentally, Inanni finds him attractive as well.
{{quote|
* [[The Ingenue]]: Inanni
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Mara and Nekonkh, who seems to see Mara as the daughter he never had.
* [[Jade
* [[La Résistance]]: The faction that Sheftu leads on behalf of the king is basically this.
* [[Long Hair Is Feminine]]: Inanni's hip-length hair is just one of many cues of her gentle and nurturing personality.
* [[Mata Hari]]: Mara has definite elements of this. Note, however, that her employer didn't ''intend'' for her to captivate the leader of [[La Résistance]] into revealing nearly all his secrets to her. ▼
* [[Mundane Luxury]]: Basic makeup and non-ragged clothing are this for Mara when she first assumes her role as the princess's interpreter.
* [[Mysterious Past]]: Mara has vague memories of being a free child in a wealthy household, and Sheftu wonders if she was a child of noble birth stolen and sold into slavery. The truth is never revealed.
* [[Nice to
* [[The Nondescript]]: Sheftu employs this deliberately when acting as Sashai, or in another capacity for his rebellion.
* [[Occult Blue Eyes]]: Mara has blue eyes, which are extremely rare in [[Ancient Egypt]]. Most characters, including her love interest, see them as exotically beautiful, but a few of the characters find them creepy or demonic.
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* [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]]: ''Sheftu''
* [[Scullery Maid]]: Mara was this as a slave in Zasha's house.
* [[Secret Relationship]]: Mara and Sheftu's [[Will They or Won't They?]] and [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] have to be kept secret during their cover lives as great lord and lowly interpretor who barely have an excuse to interact. [[Everyone Can See It|Of course, people notice anyway]].
▲* [[
* [[Servile Snarker]]: Mara.
* [[She Is the King]]: Hatshepshut, as in [[Real Life]]. It's even noted that she wears masculine attire and a false beard in court.
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* [[The Spymaster]]: Sheftu for Thutmose, Nareth for Hatshepsut. [[Double Agent|Mara works for both of them.]]
* [[Street Urchin]]: Mara frequently resorts to stealing food on the streets when her masters starve her, and she longs for "gold and freedom" above all things.
* [[Third
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Mara and Inanni for Thutmose.
* [[Trust Password]]: Sheftu gives Nekonkh a Trust Password for Mara: "Tell her I have not forgotten what I said last night when I took her in my arms." Nekonkh is repulsed by Sheftu's cold-bloodedness, as he is to use the Trust Password as part of Mara's loyalty test.
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* [[Villainous Harlequin]]: Sahure the juggler
* [[Warrior Prince]]: Thutmose
* [[What Beautiful Eyes!]]: Mara's blue eyes (extremely rare in Egypt) are considered this by Sheftu and a few others. The other main reaction is to see them as creepy.
* [[When She Smiles|When He Smiles]]: Sheftu. Another male character mentions that Sheftu is actually so plain as to be almost ugly, but his smile (along with his super-suaveness) prevents any woman from realizing this.
* [[The Wise Prince]]: Thutmose, if you substitute "melancholy" for "brooding"
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[[Category:Romance Novel]]
[[Category:Young Adult Literature]]
[[Category:Mara, Daughter
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