An ill-fated dig. An ancient city believed to be cursed. And a century-old mystery at the heart of it all.
Egypt, 1903: When renowned papyrologist Helen Gardiner arrives at an excavation site in the ancient city of Calliopolis, she learns that she has been given the job because her predecessor has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One of the only women on the dig, Helen—tasked with restoring and cataloguing the thousands of papyrus fragments recovered at the site—soon discovers that there’s more to Calliopolis than meets the eye. The archaeologists on the dig, mostly men, all have not only their own towering egos, but their own agendas, including secrets they might kill to protect.
Toronto, 2019: Archivist Maddie Sloan is at a dead she feels like her academic career is stalled, and she’s still healing from her recent breakup with her former partner, Ben. To make matters worse, Ben still works with Maddie’s father, a famous archaeologist, and with whom Maddie has had a major falling out. It feels like her father has chosen Ben over her.
When famous TV archaeologist Peter Bahar arrives at the Toronto Archaeological Museum to verify the provenance of objects from their Egyptian collection believed to be from Calliopolis, Maddie jumps at the opportunity. After all, she has her own ties to the Cursed City of Calliopolis through her grandmother, Iris, who worked at the site. As Maddie and Peter begin digging into the objects and circumstances surrounding the excavation, they learn that two papyrologists seem to have abruptly disappeared from the dig without explanation. Suddenly, a search for providence becomes a quest to uncover a history shrouded in secrets and lies—and a murder that has been covered up for more than a century.
City of the Muse is a sweeping, dual timeline novel that is part historical fiction and part mystery, with a dash of mysticism. Atmospheric, layered, and beautifully written, Hilton's latest takes a deep dive into the world of papyrus—her meticulous attention to detail elevates the reading experience.
With its feminist themes, strong atmosphere, and compelling narratives, this is the perfect summer read!
KATE HILTON is the bestselling author of The Hole in the Middle, Just Like Family, and Better Luck Next Time. She is also the coauthor, with Elizabeth Renzetti, of the Quill and Packet mystery series: Bury the Lead, Widows and Orphans, and the forthcoming Put It to Bed. When not writing, Kate works as a psychotherapist in private practice, with a focus on personal reinvention and life transitions.
Hilton lives with her family in Toronto.
Q & A with Kate Hilton*
GWR: How did you start writing/become a writer?
KH: I started writing just before my 40th birthday. I suddenly noticed that everyone I knew was training for a marathon. I had exactly zero interest in running but I began wondering what the equivalent might be for me. The answer (write a novel!) popped into my head so quickly that I realized my first book had been waiting for me to be ready for it.
GWR: Are you a pantser/gardener or a plotter/architect? What does your writing process look like?
KH: I’m a bit of both. I used to be firmly in the plotter/architect camp, and I still begin a book project with a detailed outline. But as I’ve grown in confidence as a writer, I find that I’m less worried about sticking to the blueprints. I come back, but I might plant a few flowers along the way. An outline is also important because my writing time is limited. I split my professional life between fiction writing and private practice as a psychotherapist, so I have to make the hours count.
GWR: How did you come up with the concept for City of the Muse?
KH: The original spark was a headline about an Oxford professor who was being investigated for stealing ancient papyrus fragments from the university’s collection and selling them to an American collector. It was a bizarre story that had all kinds of appealing elements from my perspective: ivory-tower crime, ancient books, Egyptology, billionaire skulduggery. I was hooked.
GWR: What do you have more fun with, character development or plot?
KH: It’s not fashionable, but I like plot. Designing a satisfying story that keeps the reader turning pages is the kind of intellectual puzzle that I enjoy.
GWR: In this novel you introduce a varied cast of characters—who was your favourite to write? Did any minor players become major characters as the story unfolded?
KH: Helen Gardiner was my favourite to write, and she was also the character who showed up in my brain before the others. She has such a clear sense of herself in the world, as well as a powerful dedication to her art (the restoration and translation of ancient papyrus). Another character, Nora Alcott, was supposed to have a smaller role, but she elbowed her way into a position of importance in the story.
GWR: Can you speak to the role that women have played in the filed of archeology and how you captured this through your characters?
KH: Women have been hugely important in archaeology, as excavators and scholars and even funders. The earliest university program in archaeology was funded by a female Egyptologist, and she insisted as a condition of her gift that female students be admitted and granted degrees. Helen, along with her friend Iris, represent this generation of women and the contributions they made to the field, sadly overlooked in the historical record until recently.
GWR: Did anything from your research surprise you or change the direction of the story?
KH: I was probably most surprised to learn that there had been a “papyrus craze” in Egyptology, during which many of the funded excavations were focused on recovering ancient papyrus. I’ll be honest and say that I had no prior knowledge about this archaeological moment, even though I’ve been obsessed with Egypt since childhood. But now that I understand how incredibly valuable these papyri are (monetarily, historically, intellectually, artistically), it isn’t hard to see why people spent fortunes trying to find them.
GWR: How did you balance crafting a good story against historical accuracy?
KH: With many drafts! There is always a risk of writing a textbook when you get enthusiastic about a historical subject. But with fiction, the story comes first. Only a small portion of the research ends up in the finished novel, just enough to let the reader feel as if they are transported, but not enough to be distracting.
GWR: What made you decide to write the book from a dual timeline (present day Toronto and the ancient city of Calliopolis)? And why it was important to you to feature your home city of Toronto?
KH: I wanted the reader to have the experience that I’d had, slowly learning more about papyrus excavation and the art and science of restoration and translation. It seemed to me that the best way to do that would be to bring the reader on a journey with a present-day character, Maddie, who was being introduced to the field, and the (fictional) history of Calliopolis, along with them. As for Toronto, I love to show it off whenever I have a chance. It’s such a wonderful city, full of cultural treasures. I’ve spent many happy hours in Toronto’s museums throughout my life.
GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be?
KH: A Gimlet. I’m sure they were popular at the bar at Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo during the papyrus excavations.
GWR: What are you working on now?
KH: I write the Quill & Packet mystery series with my friend, Elizabeth Renzetti. We’ll be doing edits on the third book in the series over the summer. And I’m doing some archaeology research for my next historical novel.
*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.
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