Cleopatra Selene is the daughter of the most well-known alluring female ruler of Egypt, but when her country falls, she is dragged to Rome in shackles, then handed to the Roman Emperor’s sister completely unsure of everything she ever learned, and overwhelmingly afraid of becoming anything like her dead mother. 

SYNOPSIS:

Cleopatra Selene is raised to be an Egyptian goddess alongside her elder brother, twin, and younger brother, but when the new Roman emperor (Augustus), conquers her people, she is forced aboard a ship and set to leave everything behind. Her older brother is killed and her twin remains by her side on the journey along with their baby brother, Ptolemy. But Ptolemy cannot handle the stress and grows ill. He dies before they even reach the shores of Rome and Selene (Cleopatra Selene) struggles to make sense of her life.

Then she and her twin are dragged through the streets of Rome in shackles. They are humiliated and abused by the crowd. Once the celebration of conquest is over, Selene fears the worst as she and her brother are handed over to Augustus’s sister, Octavia, but something strange happens, Octavia is a kind gentle being who wishes to raise the children with love and a Roman education.

Selene rejects this at first. She feels betrayed by her twin who easily takes to the new life. Octavia is a mother to many children, and even caring for her dead husband, Marc Anthony’s son from his first marriage because his mother died years ago. It is a crowded life full of confusion and Octavia’s constant maternal eye makes Selene uneasy.

Through the marriages of Octavia’s older children, and then the death of Selene’s twin and Octavia’s only natural son, Selene comes to question life and her dead mother’s obsession with power that led to her demise. She is afraid of marriage, motherhood, and ultimately life, especially as she matures and faces the prospect of love herself — for a soldier of similar background is sworn to watch over her when her brother dies, and although he too was dragged to Rome as a slave, he is now August’s friend and trusted soldier.

Selene has to face all of her trauma in order to meet the future, which means finding herself instead of walking in her mother’s shadow. It is a complex journey, that ends with a trip back to Africa in the hopes of ruling a new era.