Saara El-Arifi dismantles the myths and resurrects a ruler in “Cleopatra”

Cleopatra demands to be heard. This is no dusty historical record; it is a subversive, first-person "memoir" that reclaims a queen's legacy from the men who sought to bury it. Saara El-Arifi’s prose is lush and sharp—which is what fans of her Faebound and Ending Fire trilogies have come to love—but Adjoa Andoh's narration breathes fire into the text due to her distinctive, resonant power (the same scene-stealing gravitas she brings to Bridgerton). Listening to her embody Cleopatra, you don’t just hear a story, you witness a Pharaoh taking back her throne. Here, El-Arifi shares more of her motivations for sparking listeners' imaginations regarding the Egyptian icon.

Jerry Portwood: Cleopatra feels like a significant departure from your popular fantasy and romantasy series. What do you hope your fans will gain from joining you on this journey into historical fiction versus the world-building you're celebrated for?

Saara El-Arifi: I think ancient history has all the hallmarks of great fantasy: epic in scope, otherworldly yet relatable. Like all my work, Cleopatra draws a thread between our world and the fictional societies I write about. My readers will also recognise all my usual trademarks: unexpected twists, heart-wrenching love stories, found family. The two genres are very similar, but historical fiction has the benefit of grounding the reader in a specific time and place. It’s why I hope that Cleopatra will drive further interest into ancient African kingdoms, not just in Egypt, but also Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, etc.

You spent so many years researching the Pharaoh during your graduate studies. Was there anything surprising when you returned to the subject as fiction?

Part of my motivation to pursue a master’s in African studies was to predominantly focus on Cleopatra VII for my dissertation. The ancient queen had fascinated me for years, and I knew I wanted her story to be my first foray into historical fiction. What I hadn’t appreciated was how little we actually know about Cleopatra. Many of the ancient sources that we rely on as fact were written hundreds of years after she died. I hadn’t realised how much I would have to draw from fiction.

More authors continue to reimagine ancient stories in contemporary novels, to acclaim. Why do you think it was so important to revisit Cleopatra's reputation and revive her in the 21st century?

Even in 2021, when I started writing this novel, I had no true understanding of what the world would be like now. Each day I see history repeating itself—genocides, the breakdown of democracy, and the rise of bigotry—once you throw in global warming, it’s the plot of a post-apocalyptic novel, truly.

Cleopatra’s life was one of strife, but she was a woman who always fought for her voice to be heard. It was a shame that history didn’t preserve that voice, but we know it was there, and it was defiant. Because why would so many men write so vehemently against her if it wasn’t?

So, though history repeats itself, Cleopatra teaches us to keep using the one thing we all have: our voice. Because even if history is determined to forget you, someone somewhere is always listening.

The idea that she was a seductress has persisted for so long. Can you share more about how you reimagined Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony?

Cleopatra’s legacy has been entwined with the names Caesar and Antony for millennia. Most of what we know about her is as a footnote in their histories. So, my first task was to untangle her roots from them. Though I feature both Romans, and both do go on to love her deeply, my aim was not to focus on their stories. They feature as chapters in her story rather than the full tale.

I was far more interested in who she was beyond the men in her life. Who was she as a mother? A scholar? A friend? These became the aspects of her life that I sought to shine a light on, dismantling her myth from the men who wrote it, and the men they wrote about.

Your choice of using first-person narrative is fascinating. Can you explain why you wanted this to feel like a "memoir" from the afterlife?

This novel is a resurrection. By positioning the story in the first person, I am giving Cleopatra the opportunity to finally speak her own truth. And yes, this is fiction, but I do not think it has any less relevance to Cleopatra’s story than ancient sources like Plutarch, who had a penchant for court gossip.

Everything we have of Cleopatra is myth-making to a certain degree, and this novel is no exception. Yet, there is something very different about this volume than the ancient texts that have come before—it is written by a woman, and a Black woman at that.

Having Adjoa Andoh narrate the audiobook is an inspired choice. And you both share a Ghanaian heritage. Can you tell us anything about that choice or if you had been a fan of her work?

To say I am obsessed with Adjoa is putting it lightly. Her presence, her acting skills, her integrity—she is a queen, truly. So, who better to play a queen?

It was important to me that Cleopatra was read by a woman of colour, because no matter how you perceive the pharaoh, her life was tarnished by bigotry and exoticism from Rome. The fact that Adjoa and I are also connected by our heritage to Ghana only makes this even more special for me—I got a lot of phone calls from my family when this was confirmed! Adjoa’s unique ability to draw a listener in is so compelling that there was no question she was our dream pick for the role. When she said yes, the rest was history, literally.