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Tawannanna:
Mother of an Empire
By Bert Oldenhuis
Mother of an Empire
By Bert Oldenhuis
Publication Date: 22nd March 2024
Publisher: Centraal Boekhuis
Page Length: 391
Genre: Historical Fiction
It is 1252 BCE .King Hattusili III (Hattu) is king of the Great Hittite Empire together with his queen Puduhepa (Pudu). Pudu is a highly respected stateswoman, diplomat, prime regent and advisor to her husband the king, giving her the venerated title of “Tawannanna”.
King Hattu dies and leaves Pudu to govern the empire as tawannanna to her son Suna, who is crowned as King Tudhaliya IV. Suna is defeated in a crucial battle by the Assyrians at the cost of huge territorial losses.
The empire is further weakened by internal strife and external threats. Pudu must do everything in her power to restore the frayed relations with Assyria and Egypt.
Suna dies and his eldest son Kazanna is next in line for the throne. Puduhepa is vehemently opposed to this due to the inability of either Kazanna or his brother Arnili to produce an heir.
Nevertheless Kazanna is crowned as King Arnuwanda III. However, he has no intention to lead military campaigns and risk his life of leisure, causing the empire to slide further into decline.
The comely Gapazilani (Gapa) was a suitable candidate to become Kazanna’s queen, but four years into the marriage there was still no heir. The palace rumor that the royal marriage had never been consummated gave her the questionable title of “Virgin Queen”.
Arnili, a womanizer pur sang, seduced his brother’s wife Gapa just as she was about to leave on a bogus diplomatic mission to visit her lover Prince Armati in the kingdom of Ammura. A mission that was orchestrated by Puduhepa in an effort to save the dynasty and the kingdom from their eventual demise.
A son Kuzim is born and Arnili is convinced that it is his. Reason to speed up his personal agenda by deposing his brother King Arnuwanda and seizing the throne. He eliminates all obstacles that might block his progress and crowns himself King Suppiluliuma II, fully intending to marry his brother’s widow. However he did not foresee the power of love between Gapa and Armati.
Will Arnili marry Gapa and claim Kuzim as his son or will he hunt them down and kill them both out of spite? And how does the aging Puduhepa react to this unexpected turn of events that upset her so carefully thought-out plan?
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Bert Oldenhuis
Bert Oldenhuis was born in the Netherlands but spent his formative years in the United States up to his graduation from the USMMA at Kings Point. His first novel “A Doghouse Tale” was based on his experiences as mariner and was an upbeat to the historical fiction novels of “The Saga of Dorian-Sou.” He has a subject preference for (pre) history and weaves fiction and reality into exciting and adventurous accounts with just that smidge of humor that makes for easy and relaxed reading. He lives with his wife in the Netherlands.
Bert Oldenhuis is a new author for me. I have just bought a copy of Tawannanna:
ReplyDeleteMother of an Empire. I shall look forward to reading it. Thank you for the recommendations, Mary Anne.
I have to admit I do not know anything about this era. If I may ask, what inspired you to write about the Hittite empire?
ReplyDeleteI have added your book to my to-read list, Bert. I have never read a book set in this era, so I am really looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your up-coming release. I have made a note in my diary!
ReplyDeleteAnswer to the question as to what inspired me to write about this era: An article on the "Collapse of the Bronze Age" inspired me to delve deeper into this little known phenomenon. It is a very short period spanning one or two decades where the the Hittite empire and its neighboring kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean came to an abrupt end. One of the many reasons, if not the most important, was the fall of the empire due to internal strife for succession of the throne, general corruption and revolt. Up until the beginning of the 20th century little was known of the Hittites. Only recent excevations have begun to shed some light on the existence of this once mighty empire. The fictional story told in "Tawannanna" together with actual events and names woven into it will hopefully shed some light on the events that led up to the fall of the Hittite empire
ReplyDeleteYour cover is very striking.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see this on KU. I will be heading over to Amazon now.
ReplyDeleteThey say you should never judge a book by its cover, but that cover really does pull you in a make you want to read the book.
ReplyDelete