Discover the
untold story of Enheduanna, the world’s first named author, as she navigates
power, betrayal, and divine destiny in ancient Mesopotamia. A mesmerizing
fusion of history, myth, and female leadership that challenges how we see the
past—and ourselves.
A high priestess dethroned.
A rebel with a dangerous plan. One empire hanging by a thread.
When Enheduanna is named High Priestess of Ur, her connection to the gods makes
her a target. Lugalanne’s coup strips her of robes, power, and home, casting
her into the perilous underworld. There, amid forests of shadows and
treacherous trials, she discovers that divine favor alone won’t save her—only
cunning, courage, and a willingness to embrace the ruthlessness of her enemies
can restore her.
Drawing on history and myth, Enheduanna’s Song From the Sands follows the world’s first named author
as she fights to reclaim her voice and her destiny. Political intrigue,
betrayal, and divine tests collide as Enheduanna must decide whether to
forgive, to fight, or to harness the power that could shake the foundations of
an empire. For readers who love The Song of Achilles’s intimate heroism, Circe’s
mythic depth, or The Daughters of Sparta’s fierce women, this
is a mesmerizing dive into ancient Mesopotamia where courage and cunning are
the only paths to survival.
Buy Link:
Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/472x5R
Ellen Rachlin’s poetry has appeared in American Poetry Review, Comstock Review, Granta, Court Green, Literary Imagination, and various anthologies. She has published two collections of her poems, Until Crazy Catches Me (Antrim House, 2008) and Permeable Divide (Antrim House, 2017), winner of the 2018 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Silver Award.
She has a historical fiction novel,
Enheduanna’s Song From the Sands, based on the life of Enheduanna, the
Akkadian high priestess and world’s first-named author, forthcoming from
Histria Books and a collection of poems, At the Big Bang Resort, forthcoming
from Red Hen Press.
She is also the author of two chapbooks, Waiting for Here (Finishing Line Press, 2004), a finalist in the New Women's Voices series, and Captive to Residue (Flarestack Publishing, 2009). She received her MFA from Antioch University. She serves as Treasurer of The Poetry Society of America and is a partner at Blue Leaf Ventures.
Other writing genres include numerous textbook and journal articles on the subject of finance and investing with various publishers including Wiley.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.ellenrachlin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Ellen-Rachlin-author/61583923434907/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenrachlin/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ellen-Rachlin/author/B002LFQWRM
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8068457.Ellen_Rachlin
Praise for Enheduanna’s Song From The Sands (optional):
"In finely detailed prose, Ellen Rachlin brings Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon, to life, as well as the mythic figures of Inanna and Ereshkigal of the Underworld. Enheduanna’s Song From the Sands is filled with conflict and intensity, each quest, not only a matter of achieving power, but of life and death."
~Regina McBride, author of Stranger from Across the Sea
"Ellen Rachlin’s sumptuously
detailed debut novel Enheduanna’s Song From the Sands tells the remarkable true
story of the ancient high priestess Enheduanna. Rachlin guides us through the
intrigues, secrets, spies and wars of Enheduanna’s times, bringing this gifted
woman and the goddess she served to life.
What’s so singular about this heroine?
Daughter of a king, a spiritual leader and a poet, she signs her hymns
with her own name. In Enheduanna’s Song
From the Sands the first known author in western recorded history is a gutsy
woman! Thanks to Rachlin’s imagination
and rich research, I fell in love with Enheduanna and relished her anguished
and opulent story."
~ Molly Peacock, Author of The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72
"Enheduanna's hymns to the
goddess Inanna are the first known literary works to name an author. Rachlin
brings her to life in this novel set in 2300 BCE, a novel of sex, war, love, a
baby in a basket, and a woman creating a new order of being. It’s historical
fiction writing that reminds the reader of Hilary Mantel, you can’t put it
down. You want to follow the priestess
to bed, to rise, to her last fighting breath. Rachlin won’t let you put this
book down."
~Kate Gale, author of Under a Neon Sun and Swimming the Milky Way
“I could not put this book down! As a history buff I
always love reading historical fiction and this book was so amazing. Reading Enheduanna’s
struggle and overcoming hardships as a high priestess were so inspiring and
intriguing to read about. If you loved books like The Song of Achilles than you
would love this book as well.”
– Elda Rastoder Net Galley Reviewer
~ Seeta Net Galley Reviewer
~ Morgan ARC reader
“Enheduanna’s Song from the Sands is a historical
fantasy surrounding the life and actions of Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon
the Great and High Priestess of Ur, a powerful religious and business leader
who lived approximately two-thousand years before Virgil. Ellen Rachlin
entwines her history with myth in a novel about the world’s first named author,
who finds herself the focal point of conflict, transformation, and choices
surrounding an extraordinary power rising in ancient Mesopotamia.
From the start, the first-person story builds an
evocative, compelling scenario that draws readers with passion and insight:
Inanna, supreme in Heaven and Earth, ruler over all
gods, I beg of you: restore me to my temple, bring me home! In the ancient city
of Ur, I no longer breathe the salty air, lift myself from the sacred bed or
unravel Ningal’s dreams for my followers. The southern stars have slipped away
from me; Now I walk the thorny brush of the northern mountainside. As I sing
your blessed song, I am dying.
A host of equally memorable characters enter Enheduanna’s
life and chambers, from Darda, the son of Purushanda’s former king, to her
mother and father, Sargon and Tashlultum, Uanna and Nidintu, women who are part
of a core circle Enheduanna thinks she can trust, and others from different
sides of an evolving rebellion.
Enheduanna tries to fulfill her destiny, but often winds
up feeling isolated and uncertain:
“...in this forest of knowledge, the faces of some of
my closest friends are becoming increasingly obscured.”
As Enheduanna faces riots, rebels, and intrigue, her
world comes to life with a host of social, political, and personal issues; all
of which she navigates with authority and, sometimes, uncertainty: “I fear
we’re losing real ground to our enemy.”
Suffused with rage, she then documents the history of her
world in vivid detail that readers will find engrossing and realistic.
Librarians and readers seeking a story of ancient history
come to life will find Enheduanna’s
Song from the Sands rich
with detail, personalized by the protagonist’s reflections as she steps into
her power and makes difficult choices.
Filled with dramatic action and confrontations with self
as well as the outside world, Enheduanna’s
Song from the Sands will
appeal both to leisure readers and scholarly students of ancient times. The
former will appreciate the high drama and personal touches; the latter the
footnotes and references which cement events and fantasy in a layer of real
history.
An important footnote by the author clarifies why this
novel should be in any serious collection of women’s history, as well as in
fantasy and historical fiction holdings:
I stumbled across Enheduanna while researching Sargon
the Great. No one I knew, including poets, had ever heard of her or her hymns.
When I began to uncover what was more broadly known about Enheduanna, it astounded
me that the first-named author in history was not only a virtual unknown, but a
woman who lived in a male-dominated culture.”
~ Diane Donovan Midwest Review on recommended reading
list
If you enjoy discovering new stories,
you may also like The AnaRose Chronicles—a trilogy of award‑winning
adventure novellas. https://books2read.com/u/4jzKAY
