What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez is a thrilling historical fantasy for young adults, set in an alternative version of 1884 Egypt where ancient magic exists. The world Ibañez creates is not very different from the real one. Historical events happened the same way they did in the real world, as far as I can tell. The main difference is the existence of magic, which attaches itself to objects and rubs off on every person who touches the object, but grows a little less powerful with each person. The magic also brings back memories of the object’s original owner. It is not clear whether everyone in Ibañez’s world can sense the magic, but it seems that some people feel it more than others. Everyone seems to know it exists, whether they can sense it or not.
The heroine, Inez Olivera, is a nineteen-year-old Bolivian Argentinian woman who has lived a privileged life among the upper class of Buenos Aires. There is one important thing missing from her life, though: her parents, who spend half the year in Egypt without her. They obviously love her, and they have a great time when they are together, but they insist that Inez stay home when they go to Egypt, even though she longs to join them there. When her parents are in Egypt, Inez lives with her stern aunt and two female cousins, one of whom she loves and the other she hates.
Inez’s world is shattered when she receives a letter informing her that her parents are missing, presumed dead, in Egypt. Apparently, they wandered into the desert, never to be seen again. Inez knows her parents would never have gone off into the desert like that, without any supplies, and she is determined to go to Egypt and find out what happened to them. So, she sails to Egypt unchaperoned, which was very unusual for a young woman of that time. Inez pretends to be a young widow, to make her voyage more socially acceptable, but still it is remarked on that she’s a young woman traveling alone.
As soon as Inez arrives in Alexandria, she realizes her search for her parents and what happened to them is not going to be easy. Her uncle Ricardo, an enigmatic archaeologist, is her legal guardian and has control over the fortune she inherited from her parents. He won’t meet her at the docks, but instead sends his assistant, a handsome young Englishman, Whit Hayes, to tell her to go back to Argentina. Inez disobeys, of course, and gets on a train to Cairo, leaving most of her luggage behind.
Inez’s last gift from her father had been a golden ring, touched by magic, which, as she learns later, belonged to Cleopatra. Her father had sent it to her with his last letter. Some of the magic rubs off on Inez, and she starts experiencing some of Cleopatra’s memories. The ring is stolen from her on the train, by a British antiquities officer, and her cries for help go unanswered. Even though the ring is gone, though, the magic stays.
When Inez arrives at Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo (a setting that will be familiar to fans of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series), she finds Whit again, along with her uncle Ricardo, who is not at all pleased to see her. One of the mysteries in this novel is the nature of Ricardo’s character. Is he evil, or is he only trying to protect Inez? Is he involved in her parents’ deaths? Inez finds a letter from her mother while searching her parents’ suite at Shepheard’s, in which her mother calls Ricardo a murderer. This letter convinces Inez that Ricardo killed her parents, and she decides she must stop him from killing anyone else. But is that what really happened?
In Cairo, Inez frequently encounters Whit, who thwarts her at every turn. The two of them have many clashes, but there are moments when he is kind to her. He takes her on a tour of Cairo and even kisses her when they get back to the hotel. At the heart of the novel is the relationship between Inez and Whit, which has many ups and downs. Whit is a mysterious figure, a former British officer who was dishonorably discharged from the army and has been a heavy drinker since then. We don’t learn the reason for his discharge until late in the novel. Whit is brilliant and clever, and often sarcastic and cynical. He also has many secrets, besides the reason he was discharged from the army. Whit and Inez are obviously attracted to each other, but they both fight against the attraction. While most of the novel is told from Inez’s point of view, there are brief sections at the end of certain chapters, told from Whit’s point of view, where we get his perspective, and glimpses into his past. Their relationship is a classic example of the “enemies to lovers” relationship which has a long history, going back to Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and, most significantly for this novel, Amelia and Emerson in Elizabeth Peters’ Crocodile on the Sandbank.
When he and his team are about to leave Cairo for their archaeological dig, Ricardo insists that Inez go back to Argentina. She pretends to agree, but stows away, disguised as a member of the crew, on his boat going up the Nile. They encounter a storm on the way, where Inez is thrown overboard and Whit rescues her. The site of the dig proves to be the island of Philae, which is the last place where Inez’s parents were seen alive, and which her father suspected to be the site of the tomb of Cleopatra. It is also, of course, where her ring came from. Ricardo has decided to continue the search for Cleopatra. Inez, who is an aspiring artist, brings her sketchpad and draws pictures of what the team finds. Because Inez can sense magic, even though she has lost Cleopatra’s ring, the magic has rubbed off on her, and she can find other objects that belonged to Cleopatra by recognizing the magic coming from them. Ricardo hopes her gift will lead him to Cleopatra’s tomb.
To say much more about the plot would be to spoil it, but I will say that the novel takes many twists and turns, and unexpected paths. Inez learns that her mother might have been involved in the illegal antiquities trade and may not have been the good person Inez thought she was, and that her uncle Ricardo might not be a murderer, after all. Ibañez’s characters are not entirely good or entirely evil. Inez is a wonderful heroine, strong and courageous, determined to find her parents—and Cleopatra—but also impulsive and sometimes reckless, which leads her into danger, and she is not always a great judge of character. But then, she is very young and has lived a sheltered life, so we can see why. Whit is a fascinating hero, with many sides to him. He genuinely cares for Inez, but at times we wonder if he has an ulterior motive. The secondary characters also have many sides to them.
What the River Knows is an excellent novel, with elements of several different genres: historical fiction, mystery, romance, adventure, and fantasy. It is the first in a series of two books. At least, as far as I know, there are only going to be two. It ends with a cliffhanger, so it makes you want to read the second book, Where the Library Hides, right away. I love Ibañez’s details of life in 19th century Egypt, and what she shows us about the archaeological discoveries of the time. Her system of magic is also fascinating. It is not really a huge part of the novel, but it adds an element of fantasy to it and makes you want to learn more about how it works. The romance is developed very well, and Inez and Whit remind me of a younger version of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia and Emerson. Although the novel is written for young adults, it should appeal to adults as well, and especially to Amelia Peabody fans.
Above all, I highly recommend it for its amazing and complex heroine. Inez is a great example of a woman ahead of her time, determined to travel on her own and go on an archaeological dig in an era when that was unusual for a woman. I also loved the scenes told from Cleopatra’s point of view, filtered through the magic in Inez’s ring. Cleopatra is portrayed as a powerful ruler, commanding armies and teaching herself the ancient Egyptian language, which no other ruler of Egypt in centuries had learned. Her immediate ancestors all spoke Greek. Ibañez’s Cleopatra is also a practitioner of magic and alchemy, and it seems we will learn more about the alchemy in the second book. Ibañez’s strong portrayals of Inez and Cleopatra make this book a good one to read for Women’s History Month.
What the River Knows is available from the Hatcher Graduate Library and the Frances Willson Thompson Library on the Flint campus.