Rachel Louise Driscoll Talks 'Nephthys'
5 March 2025
Can you tell us a bit about Nephthys’ protagonist, Clemmie?
Clemmie is a Victorian hieroglyphist, who arrives in Egypt on a secret mission to save what’s left of her family, whilst being haunted by the myth of the goddess Nephthys. She may only be in her early twenties, but Clemmie has suffered great hardships and heartaches in the past five years, and she is determined to find a way to bring an end to her family’s calamities. Clemmie is a loyal, slightly introverted, and sometimes feisty heroine who loves cats.
Sisterhood plays a huge part of both Nephthys and Clemmie’s story, we especially loved the story between Nephthys and Isis. Can you tell us more about the history between Nephthys, Clemmie and their sisters?
Clemmie and her sister Rosetta grew up on the myths of Isis and Nephthys rather than on fairytales, and that’s where Clemmie’s obsession for the myth began. The myth of the goddess sisters is one of love, betrayal, and restoration: something which echoes in Clemmie’s life. Isis and Nephthys both love their brother Osiris, who is married to Isis. When their brother Set (Nephthys’ husband) brutally murders Osiris, cutting him up and scattering his body parts across Egypt, the two sisters work together to piece Osiris back together, to bring healing and forgiveness. Clemmie is on a quest of her own to bring healing, but with the past haunting her, and dangers around every bend of the Nile, will she succeed?
Sum up in five words Clemmie’s journey.
Mysterious. Perilous. Adventurous. Twisty. Revelatory.
You were inspired to write the story after holding a Egyptian mummified cat as a child, did the idea come to you then?
The idea actually came to me much later – but I think I always knew I’d turn to Ancient Egypt for a book one day.
Was it easy to write about Egypt in the Victorian era? And what would you say was your biggest challenge during the writing process?
I always do a lot of research for my writing, and I am passionate about the past (particularly the 19th century). I wouldn’t exactly say that it is easy to write about a time period that you haven’t experienced for yourself, but at the same time, I do often call myself a Victorian living in the 21st century, so I do feel comfortable writing books set in that era. Historical accuracy is very important to me, I sweat over the smallest details. Possibly the biggest challenge for this particular novel was working out Clemmie’s travelling route and the timings of her journey – but Amelia Edwards’ memoir A Thousand Miles Up the Nile was a great resource to help me with this.
You wore a corset whilst writing the book, is there anything else you did to help you get an insider’s perspective of the Victorian era?
I like to study fashion plates to understand the fashions of the time, and read books and articles from the era to get my facts right. I also devoured ‘lumps of delight’ and drank lots of coffee and some Victorian lemonade to immerse myself in the culinary parts of the novel (all very important parts of research).
The book goes very in-depth about Egypt, what do you love the most about Egypt?
I think there is still an air of mystery around Egypt, even though the hieroglyphs have been deciphered and we do have a greater understanding of that ancient civilization these days. It was so long ago, and yet there is so much that remains for us to admire, from the Great Pyramid to a tiny amulet. If I have to pick one thing, I would probably keep coming back to the hieroglyphs. There’s just something about them that really enthralls me.
Apart from Egyptian mythology, do you have any other favourite mythologies?
I do enjoy the Greek myths (like everyone else) and I remember liking Norse mythology in my school days. There are so many different interesting mythologies, and ones I would definitely like to study more.
Do you have any other books on the horizon at the moment?
I'm busy working on my next novel which is another Victorian Gothic blending with some different myths/legends, and I can’t wait to be able to share more about it!