REVIEW: To Chase the Glowing Hours

Dear Readers,

I always try to begin each blog post with a few words of my own, but it has been some time since I have been able to share a post myself. This is the week. As the New Year kicked off, I promised that I would share my favorite historical fiction read of 2025, and I want to squeeze that in before the end of the month.

First, plenty of people are asking about my current project. It's going just great! I am presently just past the half-way mark. One of my timelines is complete and I have just finished the first chapter of my second. What is a dual-timeline, you may ask? It's a novel with not one, but TWO separate plots and times in history. This means I've got two protagonists: a Roman woman and an American. One timeline takes place in early Augustan Rome (25BC) and the other in the present day--slightly futuristic, technology-wise. I am always excited about books I'm currently writing, but there is something really magical about this one. It popped into my head one day last June, while at the Historical Novel Society conference. As a class assignment, I was asked to jot down a back-cover blurb for it--for a novel that had yet to be written! And here's the wild part--the story is still staying true to what I wrote that day. And this story is different too, because it's the closest thing I've written to a suspense-thriller. I'm heading back to Rome again in May to do some more research and visiting sites. While in Italy, I'll also be traveling to the buried town of Herculaneum which plays a key role in this book. I am super-excited about this project!!!

I read some truly amazing books last year. Some of my favorite reads included Circe by Madeline Miller, Time & Chance by Sharon Kay Penman, and Feast of Sorrows by Crystal King. However, it gives me GREAT pleasure in saying that my personal favorite all year was NOT written by a traditionally published author, but by an Independent author, like me.

To Chase the Glowing Hours is truly a MASTERPIECE, and I urge you--my readers--to get a copy, whether it be in print or on Kindle. The author, Katherine Kirkpatrick invited me to be an advance-reader, and I cannot emphasize enough what a joy that was. It takes a reader from majestic Highclere Castle (you'll recognize it from Downton Abbey!) to the deserts of Egypt's Valley of the Kings. This book is simply stellar.

READ ON, everyone!!!

~My own photo at the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt. Tutankhamun's Tomb is here.~

ALL ABOUT THE BOOK

~Lady Evelyn Herbert, Lord Carnavon's daughter~

  In November 1922, Lady Eve, the twenty-one-year-old ~daughter of the Earl of Carnarvon, embarks on an extraordinary journey from her opulent home of Highclere Castle to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Alongside her father and his hired archaeologist, Howard Carter, Eve experiences a breathtaking moment when she glimpses the lavish treasures of King Tutankhamun through a peephole in the inner doorway of an ancient, underground tomb. Amidst the excitement of her adventure, Eve finds herself drawn to the brilliant yet temperamental Carter. But as news of the treasures spreads, the trio faces challenges from peasant laborers, Egyptian nationalists, and combative reporters. When tragedy strikes, Eve becomes embroiled in a dramatic struggle to secure her family' s claim to the newfound riches, all while navigating her conflicting feelings for Carter and a suitor from her own social class. To Chase the Glowing Hours is a poignant coming-of-age tale that follows Eve' s journey from a sheltered girl to a resilient young woman. This richly-woven narrative explores themes of love, greed, loss, privilege, and self-discovery, set against the alluring and glamorous backdrops of Egypt and England in the Roaring Twenties.

~Carnarvon, Evelyn, and Howard Carter in front of Tutankhamon's Tomb.~

REVIEW BY BROOK ALLEN

TO CHASE THE GLOWING HOURS was the best book I read in in 2025. Sometimes books just have a way of letting the reader know that the author had a real passion for the content, and that was the case here. Phenomenal character arcs, magnificent world building. I could feel the heat of Egypt, visualize the splendor of the world’s greatest archaeological find, and felt the intense emotional roller-coaster that kept Eve from sleeping well at night.

Lady Evelyn (Eve) Herbert, daughter to Lord Carnarvon has joined her father in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Carnarvon’s hired archaeologist; a man he’s supported financially for years while looking for the Tomb of Tutankhamun, has struck gold—literally. Howard Carter, a chain-smoking man on a mission has located an intact tomb. Kirkpatrick’s descriptive elements in the tomb-entry scene are simply mesmerizing. In fact, good luck setting the book down during these scenes! They are beautifully depicted. Eve, her father, and Carter succumb to temptation, entering not only the first antechamber of the burial, but by breaking into the tomb’s holy-of-holies itself. However, past that mountain-high moment, the story plummets into Egypt’s civil strife, the dishonest nature of the press, and Lord Carnarvon’s worsening health. Eve’s own character is challenged and matures in her evolving feelings regarding who “owns” Tut’s treasures, an untimely "death on the Nile", and following a short fling with the unstable Carter.

There are so many glorious levels of emotion and depth to the characters and overall presentation of this novel. It’s rich—a tapestry of human nature at times, and typifies the struggle for integrity. Congratulations to Kirkpatrick, for she has achieved a masterpiece of literature, highlighting one of archaeology’s most extraordinary achievements.

Five Pharaonic stars!

ALL ABOUT KATHERINE

ALL ABOUT KATHERINE

Katherine Kirkpatrick is the author of ten books, both fiction and nonfiction. When not flying over the Valley of the Kings in a hot air balloon or exploring the secret cabinets of Highclere Castle, she can be found at her computer in Seattle, Washington.