I learned so much from this novel with the historical details and the vivid, good writing style of the author. It makes a really good job of transporting you to Egypt in the 20s. I admired the love story and the devotion of Eve and Brograve. Fantastic narration. A lovely, engaging story.

I just simply love everything that Gill Paul does! This one did not disappoint. I am a stroke survivor so listening to some of this was quite difficult - it simply resonated.
The story is set in the UK and Egypt this time around.
The characters came to life and I was truly sucked in. Can't wait to see what she doe next!

Many are the times that I have loudly proclaimed that I am not the biggest fan of audiobooks. I enjoy them but find myself engaging with the story less and walking away from the experience with a smaller sense of the book as a whole.

This was not the case with this marvelous audio version of The Collector’s Daughter. I listened to it on my way to class, on the bus and just as I was walking from one destination to another. I found myself looking forward to the time I would spend listening to it and when it was finished, I honestly felt that a little part of my day that brought me genuine joy had vanished.

But enough about my experience with the audio book, more about my thoughts of the book itself.

Firstly, it had no right being so sad and breaking my heart as completely as it did. I finished it while walking home from work and got many a funny look as strangers saw me clutching my heart, tears rolling down my face and just listening quietly to something playing through my headphones. The ending was utterly heartbreaking in the most apt and real way.

This at its core was a love story, a story about the love that two people can have for each other and many years the love can span. The fact that this was a historic romance, spanning two timelines (as historic fictions often do), but both timelines being narrated by the same character was unique and perfect for the tale being told. It made it more personal and intimate in the feelings and moments discussed. It also intrigued me purely because dual timelines often follow the standard layout of member from the younger generation finds a relic and soon discovers the family history.

The different settings of the story itself were also marvelously unique. Egypt in the 1920’s, high society London and then London in the 70’s. Not really times that are visited often or that I have personally come across very often.

The writing was real and quite lovely, having a rhythmic flow to it that held to the nature of recollection perfectly. The presence of strokes and their side effects was well placed and brought an entirely new layer to the story. It had my heart aching for the couple as their love remained but some of the more touching and recent memories did not.

Add in a bit of a historic scandal, tomb robbing and missing artifacts and I suddenly have the strongest urge to travel back in time to Egypt to see the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb for myself. The narrator that was chosen for the audio book was also perfect. With her soothing voice and proper English accent she played into the multiple roles seamlessly and had me smiling as she flowed along with the writing. The inflections and changes she made to her voice perfectly suited the characters and for once in my life I think that listening to the audio book may be better than reading the physical copy, just because of how perfectly her voice matched this story.

All in all I cannot recommend this highly enough. The perfect book to listen to as you walk around on an autumnal afternoon, picturing the blistering days in the great city of Cairo.

Great Narrator. That's half the battle when it comes to audible.
Great story that bounces from the 1920s to the 1970s etc.
Seems well researched, intricate and fascinating. Fully recommended.

The book is told over two times lines.

Everlyn in 1972 trying to recall her memories after suffering from several strokes. Her memories take us to the second time which is the 1920s which are so vivid for her more so than the her current life as she was becoming more confused and only remembering the past.

Its a very moving story that you want Everlyn to remember her happy moments as ancient Egypt has always been her first love and her husband her second.

The curse of Tutankkahums tomb flowed through the book, which given the time the book was set this is believed but also the doubts also getting voiced.

The narration was easy to listen to, and follow the story as you are follow the moving story. I did shed a few tears at the end as you become attached to the main characters.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for providing me with the audiobook to listen to for an honest review.

I was so excited when I spotted this audiobook on NetGalley as I do love historical fiction, and I’ve loved Gill Paul’s books in the past, plus Imogen Church was narrating so it was no brainer for me. The Egyptian storyline in the 1920s story was great, I love this era so really enjoyed this timeline. I really felt I was there in the 1920s experiencing everything that Eve was experiencing. I especially loved her romance with Brograve Beauchamp, a man who was besotted with her but couldn’t always find the words to express himself. The excitement and secrecy of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb was described brilliantly as were the ensuing tragic consequences. I must admit that I wasn’t so keen on the 1970s story, as it was a more sombre, although I really enjoyed the cultural references, especially the mention as the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show. Imogen church was of course wonderful reading this audiobook, confirming to me once again what a superb narrator she is. Highly recommended if you enjoy historical fiction on audio.

I must start by saying that I chose to read/listen to and review this book as in the 1970s I entered a writing competion as a young girl to compose a piece about the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun. It was a competion launched to coincide with the exhibition brought to the UK and to launch the books published at that time. Well, I won that competion with a short story about what it must have been like to have been a slave child of the great King and spend a night guarding his tomb. So you will understand that although in many ways I was not drawn to the subject matter as my adult self, I just had to give it a go.

The result was that I found this book to be better than I had expected. From some other reviews I had thought that this was a work of fiction, and indeed naturally the conversations and some characters probably are. However Lady Evelyn Herbert was a real person who was present at the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun and I have found many of the events mentioned and people involved to be well documented in history. I believe this book to be well researched with a huge dollop of mystery and intrigue thrown in to make a great story!

Adventurous, historical, mysterious.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

I have just finished listening to this book and I loved it.I think I have read all Gills books at this stage and this doesn't disappoint.Loved the narrator.This book is set in an interesting time in history and loved Egypt.

My Review
This was a delightful read in the historical fiction genre, listened to as an audiobook. I do enjoy a book that picks a moment in history as a basis for a novel, in this case, it's the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.
We follow the life of Lady Evelyn Herbert, daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon (Highclere Castle). Now elderly and in hospital following a stroke, she starts to reflect on her life. The arrival of an academic from Egypt wanting to question her about some artifacts missing from Tutankamun's collection opens up some long-forgotten memories.
Reflecting on her life Lady Evelyn describes the events leading up to, the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by her father, Howard Carter, and herself. It was absolutely fascinating.
A pleasure to listen to, hearing all about the life of the well to do throughout the 20th century. How the curse of Tutankamun touched the lives of many of those associated with the discovery.

A great story to get lost into, it is worth remembering though this is a fictionalised story of Lady Herbert.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just hitting a four-star read for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for a review copy.

This book was amazing, it was so well wrote that I was hooked from the very first chapter. I became totally engulfed in the story, as it is such a heart warming story and devastating in equal measures. There are so many twists in the story to keep you permanently on the edge of your seat. This page turning novel was just perfect and so factual I love learning history etc through fiction books. I really enjoyed the political element of this book concerning who has the right to keep the artefacts found on these sites and the controversy around this topic. I listened to the audio version and found that the narrator really added to the atmosphere and mystery of the book that I could not put down. The author wrote this book so well I know want to read more books by her as I binge read this book and I had it finished in no time. I'm really hoping this book gets made into a film as it would be perfect for the big screen. I thought it was great that the ending was so unexpected and the perfect way to end a book. I'm not going to tell you what happened for obvious reasons and I don't see the point in spoilers. So much praise to the author and publishing team for producing such a delightful story with such interesting novel full of history and culture. Posted the reviews to goodreads, amazon, Barnes&noble, waterstones, kobo and Google books and on my blog
https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-collector-s-daughter-by-gill-paul-harper-collins-5-stars

This audiobook was so enjoyable and I really loved the story of Eve, her family, her life and her adventures. Eve is 71 and she has had another stroke, which has landed her in hospital. While she is recovering there, her husband Brograve comes to see her every day, and she has other visitors who help her too. One of them helps her to remember her times in the past, in Egypt, where she was an archaeologist who entered the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. She makes so much progress with her health that she is allowed to recover at her home with her loving husband. We then find out more about what happened to her and her family when they were in Egypt. We are shown the story in multiple timelines and this is very fascinating and interesting as we get to read about Eve's life in the past and her life in the present. I was really interested to read about her life as a young adult, with her friends and parents, and how she met her husband, and I loved reading about her time in Egypt, as I love anything to do with Egypt. I highly recommend this book; I just loved it and found it interesting and exciting!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: If you are looking for a historical fiction novel woven mostly around facts and with something other than WWII for a change, this is an interesting one.

Story:
The book is based on the life of Lady Evelyn Herbert, who is known for being one of the first people in modern times to enter the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922 along with her father Lord Carnarvon and archaeologist Howard Carter.
The story begins in 1972, fifty years after the above event. Eve, now in her 70s, has suffered yet another stroke and after some touch-and-go days in the hospital, is recovering at home with her beloved husband of almost 5 decades, Lord Brograve Beauchamp. When an Egyptian academic named Anna comes to visit her to enquire about something anomalous in the documentation of the discovery, Eve’s guards go up. But how can she save the reputation of Howard Carter, her father, and herself, when her stroke has left her memory in tatters?

The blurb makes it sound like the book is entirely about the discovery of the Tutankhamun tomb. But while this is a significant event in the book, the actual discovery itself is just a few pages long. The focus is more on the life of Eve, especially after the discovery when a series of unfortunate events (Sorry, Lemony Snicket!) creates rumours of an ancient malevolent curse on those who breached the tomb. There is also a lot of detail on Eve’s parents and brother and their personal problems, and on Eve’s life with Brograve, and of course on Anna’s interactions with Eve. Not that all this takes away anything from the narrative, but if you are looking for a dominant Egyptian theme in the plot, you might be disappointed. Egypt has an important role to play in the plot, but the book isn’t about Egypt per se.

The plot includes a lot of flashbacks set in the 1920s, which enable us to know what actually happened. The dual timeline isn’t written in the typical format of alternating past and present chapters. I don’t know how to describe it exactly. But imagine you are watching a movie set in the 1970s. The characters are talking or lost in some thought, and during the course of their conversation/musing comes a reference to something that happened in the past. The screen then fades into that specific historical point and you get to see what they were talking/thinking about. That’s exactly how the past events are interspersed in the 1970s timeline of the book. After a while, I could easily guess when the narrative would shift to the past: all that was needed was a trigger that mentioned a past event. It was an unusual method of writing dual timelines, and I’m still not sure if I enjoyed it or not.

The characters are a typical representation of the British upper class of the 1920s but with an atypical heroine. As most of the British characters are actual persons, I looked up some information on them and was happy to see a great level of accuracy in their portrayals. In the book, they come across exactly as they might have been in real life, based on the information available online. However, I wasn’t happy with the portrayal of the fictional Anna. She was the only Egyptian character in the plot, yet her depiction was somewhat demeaning. There seemed to be an undertone of praising British techniques while looking down on everything Egyptian except the artefacts. While this must be an accurate depiction of upper-class Britishers’ thoughts at that time, it felt awkward to read.

<spoiler> I hated how there was no guilty feeling in Eve at their having taken precious artefacts from the cave. I suppose this feeling of dissatisfaction is worse in me because I’m not a Brit but am “from the colonies”. I know how it feels to have your country’s treasures taken away from you under fake pretentions and then displayed in the so-called superior museums. It’s nothing but stealing. (I’ll not hold this against the book; it is accurate in its depictions of old-time archaeological pursuits and the mentality of the colonial rulers. This is just my frustration coming out.) For this very reason, I loved the ending. It provided a small compensation.</spoiler>

Overall, the book flows fairly smoothly once you get used to the writing structure. The characters are interesting, the writing is neat, and the pace is quick. The secondary arcs are also taken care of neatly and they maintain faithfulness to facts. The ending made me push up my otherwise 3.75 rating to 4. It was a fitting finale.

I heard the 11 hrs 32 min audiobook narrated by Imogen Clark and she was fantastic. I really enjoyed her performance as she was lively and emotional as required by the narrative. Full marks to her reading.

Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction who are looking for a great story on an atypical topic.

Thank you, HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I loved this book
I was hooked on tutankhamen for my school days I read anything about him so I was draw into this from the first few work a very well research book I love all the going back to finding the tomb to present day I could see and feel it all
Eve I loved her story the writing stylish so easy to follow it just hook me love the plot I recommend to everyone a brilliant story great plot amazing facts about what happen
I order the book my self now to read and keep 5 stars

I love historical novels and this one is set in Egypt spanning the decades between the 1920’s and the 1970’s and is an engrossing read. The story is about the Tutankhamums tomb and the superstition around it that apparently anybody who entered the tomb will be cursed. The main character on the book is the marvellous Eve Herbert and her husband Brograve. I don’t want to share to much information other than this is a glorious historical novel, well researched that will leave you eager to research more on Eve Herbert and Egyptology and it’s a real good page turner!! The added bonus is this audio book is narrated by Imogen Church who is a long standing favourite narrater of mine. Thank you to Netgalley and to Harper Collins for my copy!

The fascinating life story of Eve, daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, who was with her father and Howard Carter when they opened Tutankhamun's tomb. We follow her life with all its ups and downs and she tries to recall her adventures from her failing memories. As she tries to remember the location of a particular artefact the story alternates from her past to her present, and both are very evocative. Thoroughly enjoyable with Imogen Church narrating. Thank you to Gill Paul, Net Galley and Harper Collins UK Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A work of fiction based around Egyptian history, there is a lot of factual information woven around the storyline and is told in two timezones. One is the finding and exploring of the tombs at the pyramids and the other is towards the end of the life of one of the archaeologists. Fascinating story and the legend of the curse of tutankharmun features, you decide if its a myth or truth. Lovely narrator and fitted the story style perfectly. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

The story of the daughter of Lord Carnarvon who lived in High Cleere their family seat and famously know as the TV Downton Abbey.

I'm not dure exactly why I did not enjoy it but Imogen Church the narator was far too plummy in her accent abd over acted her way through as if reading a story to a child. I felt bored and patronised.

The 1972 beginning of Eve aged 71 having another stroke did not fill me with high expectation of the rest of the book. I heard 8 hours of 11 and gave up.

Well researched I'm sure but just not a book for me. I love history but now realise this is not a subject I'm very interested in. It's all been done before.

Thanks for the opportunity to listen and review, apologies for not being excited by it.

Elegantly written in a british-sorta way it had a full cast of likable characters. Told in a dual POV of the past and present, Lady Evelyn Herbert tells of her struggles and adventures. It was her love story of ancient Egypt and Brograve. There were secrets about Tutankhamun tomb she had only shared with a few close people and a mystery to solve.
I thought it done quite well and recommend for those you love historical fiction.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator Imogen Church was excellent. It was 11 hours and 23 minutes of easy listening.
Thanks to Harper Collins Audio via Netgalley.

Every time Gill Paul has a new book out I don’t even need to read the blurb as I know without a doubt I will love it. This was definitely the case with The Collector’s Daughter. The story of Lady Evelyn Herbert , the first woman to enter the tomb of Tutankhamun . I was totally enthralled by this book of both fact and fiction and it was an absolute joy to listen to .