 First edition cover for The Ape Who Guards the Balance | |
| Author | Elizabeth Peters |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Amelia Peabody mysteries |
| Genre | Historical mystery |
| Publisher | Avon Books |
Publication date | 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 0-380-97657-9 |
| OCLC | 38030176 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3563.E747 A87 1998 |
| Preceded by | Seeing a Large Cat |
| Followed by | The Falcon at the Portal |
The Ape Who Guards the Balance is the tenth in a series of historical mystery novels, written by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1998, and featuring fictional sleuth and archaeologist Amelia Peabody.[1] The story is set in the 1906–1907 dig season in Egypt.
Explanation of the novel's title
The book's title refers to the Egyptian god Thoth, the divine scribe who waits for the heart of the dead to be weighed on a scale and judged so that he may record its fate;[2] Thoth is usually represented as having the head of an ibis, but also appears as a baboon or ape with the balancing scales.
This symbol of ancient Egyptian culture is mentioned a few times in the text, in particular in Chapter 4 when the teacher of English gives a carved pendant of a baboon (“of ancient Egyptian origin — the baboon, one of the symbols of Thoth.“) to Ramses to hand to his mother, saying the pendant represents “The ape who sits beside the balance that weighs the heart.”[3]
Plot summary
While in London, Amelia Peabody joins a protest for women's suffrage. They march before the house of an official, a man both against women voting and owner of a valuable collection of Egyptian relics. Amelia realizes that a theft of the relics is underway, which police take longer to notice. The thieves stole the clothes of the staff and the owner, fooling the protestors, and stole the entire collection. Sethos is back, that master criminal, but he is foiled in his attempt to kidnap Amelia in London.
In Cairo, they mark Christmas with friends, including Sir Edward Washington, not seen for six years. Nefret has been studying to be a physician, and uses her training when her family are injured. Ramses and David acquire a magnificent papyrus while in their disguises as poor locals. A man breaks into Nefret’s room as she sleeps; she wakes and defends herself and the box containing the papyrus, having recognized the knife-wielding thief. A few days later, thief Yassuf Mahmud‘s body is found on the Nile, killed by his own gang.
Proceeding to Luxor, they hope the gangs are not following them. As Nefret, Ramses and David walk, a prostitute named Layla calls out to Ramses; David recognizes her as a widow of his one-time employer and tells her story.
Ramses and David are kidnapped, and beaten. Layla aids them by cutting Ramses’ bonds. Ramses beats up two guards before reaching David. The two escape to Selim, where Nefret treats their wounds. Cyrus and Katherine offer their carriage to fetch the boys, and join the discussions afterward. The next day, they, with Abdullah and his men and Sir Edward, search the house where the two were held; they decide to search for Layla, perhaps help her. Sir Edward moves in to the Emerson house. They realize that it is another gang attacking Amelia’s family; Amelia tells the children, now 19 to 21 years old, her story of Sethos. A young girl’s dead body is next found in the river.
They anticipate the arrival of Walter and Evelyn Emerson and their 17 year old daughter Lia (previously called Little Amelia), their only child with an interest in Egyptology. Amelia tells them of the risky situation before they arrive. Lia is determined to reach Luxor regardless of her parents’ worries, and arrives in Luxor in the care of the messenger Daoud. Walter and Evelyn follow. Soon, the two families learn that Lia is in love with David. Amelia struggles with her own reactions to a pair English society finds as a mis-match, finally seeing through that class- and race-based view to assess the pair as true lovers and approves. The reaction is that Walter, Evelyn and Lia return to England after a brief time of sight-seeing, leaving David forlorn.
As Emerson annoys M. Maspero, he is initially not allowed near the Valley of the Kings, where wealthy sponsor Theodore M. Davis has the rights to the entire valley. A change of mind lets Emerson clean out a tomb, number 5, in the Valley of the Kings (KV5). Ned Ayrton is the archaeologist working for Davis; they are working near KV5, in KV55. Emerson, Nefret and Ramses ensure that photographs are taken by Sir Edward and the mysterious Mr Paul, before Davis invites friends in the tomb Ned has uncovered. Davis claims he found the tomb of the queen Tiyi.
Another family discussion leads to consideration of Bertha as the attacker of Amelia’s children, and the killer of her own gang members. Amelia tells them of the hatred Bertha expressed (first seen in The Hippopotamus Pool). They agree to protect each other, not travel alone. An apparently hurt goat is used to trap Amelia as she rides home with Ramses, and a man comes running at her. Ramses intervenes and an unknown shoots the attacker in the back. The attacker was one of the guards Ramses beat up earlier.
Emerson, tailed by Ramses, goes to the place of prostitution to search it. He finds a woman in English riding costume, covered except for the face; the woman is dead, shot in the head. He assumes it is Bertha, who committed suicide.
Amelia visits the school where their cook learns English. It is another trap, as Matilda grabs her. Amelia wakes later, chained to a bed in an unknown place, with Sir Edward bound even tighter in the next bed. He admits he works with Sethos, the chief, and describes Bertha as once part of the gang, but who has started her own gangs, now against Sethos. The young girl murdered earlier had been in Bertha’s gang, just like the woman posed in the riding habit to fool Emerson; Bertha killed both. Bertha is alive, with a focus on mental torture. Sethos enters the room through the window as rescue. Untied, Sir Edward leaves through the window. Sethos then frees the weakened Amelia. They exit through the window into the night and the cold rain. He leads her to Abdullah’s house, where she gets clean and dry, and sleeps. Emerson and the children join her.
They leave Abdullah’s house in a large group. A woman in the mud shoots three times, hitting Abdullah. Bertha is the woman, killed by the group of men who fall upon her. Abdullah dies in Amelia’s arms, a very sad scene. He is buried that night.
Sir Edward leaves the Emerson house, leaving a note.
Selim takes over his father’s role at the dig, as they all go back to work. Ramses aids Ned Ayrton, while the rest work in KV5. Katherine takes steps to take over the school in Luxor. Layla returns to her own house, now that Bertha is truly dead.
The photographer Mr Paul will leave before the sarcophagus is opened. Amelia offers David and Nefret to finish the photography. Mr Paul asks Amelia to meet him at the train station, as he has information for her. She recognizes him as Sethos. Because he had stolen objects from the tomb, Sethos is unwilling to give the first photos to Davis, as they record all the items present. In the distant future, he will give the photos to her. He boards the train and disappears.
Nefret witnesses the opening of the coffin in KV55, the tomb worked by Ned for Davis. The mummy disintegrates to dust and bones. Nefret recognizes the skeleton as male, not the queen that Davis wants. Davis does not value Nefret’s knowledge. Davis then passes the Emersons at work, provoking Emerson, who in his turn angers Davis, who insists Emerson be barred from the Valley of the Kings. Amelia distracts her husband by telling him, and the rest, of her conversation with Sethos about the thefts and the photos. Besides the photographs, Ramses can make a list of what he saw the first day; his memory is perfect.
Amelia and Emerson tour for a few weeks, leaving the children behind, as they are old enough to take care of themselves.
Real events
The plot has a few links to the real world of Egyptology. Had Emerson continued to dig in KV5, he would have discovered a tomb complex that was far more elaborate than any ever found in Egypt. Of course, the fictional Emerson failed to uncover what the real Dr. Kent Weeks discovered years later in 1995, finding the most extensive tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It was built for the children of Rameses II and contains over 150 rooms, many untouched for thousands of years.[4] The author knew of that success before completing the novel, and of the equally real failure of Theodore Davis to handle his dig that season, and his loose procedures in excavating the tomb of Queen Tiye.[5]
Reviews
Kirkus Reviews followed the plot of this story, yet found it too long and the writing “fussy” for an average reader. The novel was “a fun trip for readers with an interest in Egyptology; for others, a confusing, fussily written, long, long trek.”[6]
Publishers Weekly noted that Peters had been awarded Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America for her 30 year career shortly before this novel was published. They felt this novel reflected the author’s merits as an author of mystery novels. They too feel the plot is complicated, “but the maturing of Ramses, Nefret and David offers particular pleasure and gives the book depth and poignance.” The conclusion was that this novel was a “grand, galloping adventure with a heart as big as the Great Pyramid itself.”[7]
Marilyn Stasio, writing in The New York Times, found the novel lively. She remarked that “Although Peters lets the younger generation handle most of the derring-do in this romantic tale, Amelia remains an irrepressible delight.” Stasio quotes the novel, when fictional Amelia cheers up real Howard Carter now at a low ebb in his career: “ This is not the end of your career, Howard, she reassures the archeologist who will one day discover Tutankhamen's tomb. Something is going to turn up! “[1]
Awards
The novel was nominated for an Agatha Award in the "Best Novel" category in 1998.[8]
The author, Elizabeth Peters also known as Barbara Mertz, received the Grand Master Award for her career in mystery writing from the Mystery Writers of America shortly before this novel was published.[9]
See also
References
- 1 2 Stasio, Marilyn (August 16, 1998). "Crime Reviewed This Week". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2012. (registration required)
- ↑ Stadler, Martin A. (July 2012). "Thoth" (PDF). In Dieleman, Jacco (ed.). UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Los Angeles. p. 5. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Peters, Elizabeth (2002). The Ape Who Guards the Balance (E-Pub ed.). MPM Manor. p. 146. ISBN 978-0061801723.
- ↑ Wilford, John Noble (May 16, 1995). "Tomb of Ramses II's Many Sons Is Found in Egypt". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ Wolff, Lia (17 March 2014). ""The Ape Who Guards the Balance" Re-read". The Library’s Home on the Web. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ "The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters". Kirkus Reviews. May 20, 2010 [August 1, 1998]. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ "The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters". Publishers Weekly. August 1998. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ↑ "Malice Domestic Convention - Bethesda, MD". Malice Domestic. August 23, 1988. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
- ↑ "MWA Grand Masters". Mystery Writers of America. 1998. Retrieved April 17, 2023.