Written In the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt
Publisher: Harper Collins (Sept. 27, 2016
Category: Historical Fiction,
Tour Dates: October/November, 2016
ASIN: B01CY3A8X4
Available in: ebook, 554Pages
“Written in the Ashes is one of those rare novels that sets ‘history’ afire, to bathe readers in the glow of a greater, hotter truth. Fans of The Mists of Avalon will find this romantic/alchemical/feminist/spiritual epic equally captivating.”—Tom Robbins, bestselling author of Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. and Villa Incognito
In the bloody clash between Christians and pagans in fifth-century Alexandria, a servant girl becomes the last hope for preserving peace in this evocative and thrilling tale—a blend of history, adventure, religion, romance, and mysticism reminiscent of The Mists of Avalon.
After she is abducted from her home in the mountains of Sinai, Hannah is enslaved and taken to Alexandria, where she becomes the property of Alizar, an alchemist and pagan secretly working to preserve his culture. Revered for her beautiful singing voice, the young slave is invited to perform at the city’s Great Library, where she becomes friends with the revered mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia, as well as other pagans who curate its magnificent collections. Determined to help them uphold pagan culture and traditions, Hannah embarks on a dangerous quest to unite the fractured pieces of the Emerald Tablet—the last hope to save the pagans and create peace.
On this odyssey that leads her to the lost oracles of Delfi and Amun-Ra and to rediscovered ancient cities and rituals, Hannah will experience forbidden loves, painful betrayals, and poignant reunions. But her efforts may be in vain. Returning to Alexandria, Hannah finds a city engulfed in violence, even as her own romantic entanglements come to a head. Now, it’s not only her future, but the fate of all Alexandria that is at stake.
Praise for Written In the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt
“In her captivating debut novel, Written in the Ashes, K. Hollan Van Zandt brings to life a fascinating and forgotten woman of history: Hypatia of Alexandria, who may have been one of the greatest female minds of all time. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk the streets of long ago Egypt, then look no further. You will be enthralled!”– Michelle Moran, international bestselling author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra’s Daughter
“Van Zandt’s vivid description of the Great Library instantly transported me to a lush fifth century Alexandria. Her lyrical writing style and breakneck storytelling kept me riveted to the very last page.”– Robin Maxwell bestselling author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and Signora da Vinci.
“Going back so far in time leaves an author with little written record to rely on for fact. The burning of the Great Library at Alexandria was a monumental loss to humanity. The facts of the matter aside, this novel was truly arresting and I had a hard time putting it down to get anything done.
Ancient history fascinates me. Religion fascinates me. This book manages to tie both together in a story that resonates through time.
The book was fascinating. The characters were well developed and I really didn’t want to leave this world of ancient Alexandria. The imaginary, magical priests and the beautiful goddesses created by Ms. Van Zandt lent themselves to a mystical world that was quite believable within its context. As the story unfolded I was rooting for Hannah to fulfill her destiny and find peace with her past. I am looking forward to the next chapters in these characters lives.”-Patty Woodland, Broken Teepee
Guest Post by K. Hollan Van Zandt, Author of Written In the Ashes
Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt
Napoleon once said, “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.” Perhaps nowhere is this statement more true than around the mysterious events that surrounded the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt.
No one knows for certain when it burned, or how.
The Great Library was the most powerful and vast library of the ancient world, and its loss today would be the equivalent to the entire Internet disappearing suddenly overnight, forever.
It was founded after the death of Alexander the Great, and existed for over 700 years.
Consider it… The United States of America is only 240 years old. If we go back 700 years from today we reach the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy.
Now imagine a library that had been around since that time, learning, collecting, discovering—its scrolls still available to study.
Why is this significant?
Well, for one thing, findings of the scholars who lived in the Great Library were of massive importance to us, even today.
Meet Eratosthenes. Never heard of him?
Well, perhaps you’ve heard the rumor that we ignorant humans used to think the earth was flat during the Middle Ages, and that European sailors once feared falling off the end of it like a giant plate.
Actually, this little fable is what happens when the discoveries and theories of previous scholars become inaccessible due to the loss of something like… an important library. Both Pythagoras and Aristotle actually conceived of the Earth as a sphere. But no one was reading them during the Middle Ages as their works were largely unavailable.
Enter Eratosthenes. He was born in 276 B.C., and is best known for being the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth, which he did at the Great Library of Alexandria. His calculation was remarkably accurate.
Not only that, we understood during his era that the Earth is a round planet, and that we share our solar system with the other visible planets. In fact, we even had a heliocentric model of the solar system at that time thanks to another profound scientific observer and thinker of the Great Library who preceded him, Aristarchus.
(Remember, this is nearly 2000 years before Galileo was even born.)
Eratosthenes was also the first person to calculate the tilt of the Earth’s axis. (Again, with astounding accuracy.) He even created the first map of the world, based on the geographic understanding of his era.
But those are just a few findings from the Great Library of the outer world. What of the inner?
Egypt is known for what else but… mummies!
This was especially exciting for Alexandrian scientists because in most countries it was sacrilegious to examine a body after death, so no one had ever done it.
But in Alexandria, Egypt there was no such taboo, which meant scientists could decipher anatomy for the first time. The medical discoveries of the Great Library include: the pulse, the vascular system, and the importance of the brain (which previously had been considered just a strange and useless pile of mush.)
The Great Library was not just a storehouse for books; it was also the world’s first university campus complete with lecture halls and a gymnasium. It housed (without censorship) every document, story, thought and discovery that human beings had ever made in the history of the world, which the librarians copiously copied into as many languages as possible for future reference.
So how is it possible that we don’t know when the Great Library of Alexandria burned?
Was it lost when the Christians took control of all information highways in the 5th century?
Or when Caesar burned the harbor during a battle?
Was it lost to the Arabs when they began to occupy the city and it just gradually eroded away?
I found it hard to believe we know what Caesar ate for breakfast on the morning of his battles, but that no one knows when the greatest library of all time was destroyed.
In my research for my novel, Written in the Ashes, I visited many university libraries in search of answers.
I discovered that librarians of the ancient world wrote one another to request copies of codices or scrolls, or for lectures, or to transfer teachers and philosophers.
Then I found this:
In the 5th century, all the letters from the Great Library cease with the death of its headmistress, Hypatia of Alexandria, who was the first female mathematician, scientist and astronomer in history.
Her death by some scholars is even marked as the beginning of the Dark Ages.
Perhaps Hypatia’s death and the ensuing rule of the Christians (who censored all information from that time) is why we thought the Earth was flat when its circumference had already been accurately calculated two thousand years prior.
Were her death and the loss of the library connected? You’ll have to read my novel to find out.
It’s arguable the burning of the Great Library is the greatest disaster of the ancient world, and the most devastating.
We live in a time when our modern headlines echo that era, when fanaticism threatens the truth yet again. I hope we take a lesson from history, and preserve what matters for future generations.
About K. Hollan Van Zandt
Kaia Van Zandt is a celebrated author and teacher whose novel, Written in the Ashes, chronicles the events that led up to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt. Kaia’s spiritual journey began at age 14 when she founded the youth division of the Humane Society of the United States. Then as a junior in high school, she traveled to the Earth Summit in Brazil, where she taught meditation, and was given the opportunity to work with world leaders on the challenges facing humanity and the planet today, an experience that profoundly influenced her work.
She’s a graduate of Antioch University, where she focused on the intersection between the ancient Goddess traditions and modern culture. Her fascination with healing-both personally and collectively – led her to yoga. During her career she’s worked with thought leaders like Marci Shimoff and Deepak Chopra, actors like Ashley Judd, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Garry Shandling, as well as Sony ImageWorks, UCLA Medical, and the San Francisco 49ers. Her beloved writing mentor is bestselling novelist/humorist, Tom Robbins.
Website: www.kaiavanzandt.com
Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/Kaia-H-Van-Zandt-62326196268/?business_id=1527166044253916
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I find this book interesting, because it is a book about Egypt NOT from the time of the pharaohs.
Thank you, Denise! I was dating an Egyptologist when I started writing the book, and found it fascinating that not much was known of the Great Library’s demise. He was focused on the ancient sky charts of the first dynasty for his thesis, and endured my endless nagging about the Great Library, which was a Hellenistic institution and so not in his line of study. But he did give me access to his university library for my research, which was huge, because it turns out universities keep their stacks about Egypt under lock and key. Thanks for your comment, and I hope you enjoy the novel!
Interesting, that they keep the stacks about Egypt under lock and key. Are they worried about theft?
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