Hanky Panky In The Valley Of The Kings

The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, and the removal of nearly 5,000 works of art, shall always be regarded as the most sensational archaeological discovery of all time. But what is not commonly known is the full story of the characters who discovered the tomb.

The real story begins with Howard Carter, the undereducated small town boy from Kensington, and George Herbert, the fifth earl of Carnarvon, a rich ne'er-do-well, who at best was a dilettante in everything and knowledgeable in nothing. Carnarvon, the rich drifter, desperate to make something of himself in his middle years, needed Carter. Carter, brilliant, poor and in awe of the landed gentry, needed Carnarvon's money. It turned out to be an incredible match, and the most turbulent relationship in the history of archaeology.

To set the stage we must try to imagine the impact the Tut tomb discovery had on the world press, the city of Luxor, and the nearby Valley of the Kings. The rich and famous, attracted by headline news around the world, flocked in from Europe and America. Rich American college kids with their jazz-age slang mingled with wealthy young Englishmen enjoying their grand tour, desperately trying to understand what their American cousin meant by "dolled up" and "swell fella." European royalty, reporters museum reps, hucksters and con men, rubbed elbows night and day in noisy bars, the great lobby and verandahs of Luxor's most popular hotel, The Winter Palace. All of this, so close, and yet so far from Luxor's ancient narrow winding streets, wooden-latticed houses, minareted mosques, with their echoing call to prayer; and the stark-twisted beauty of the Valley of the Kings.

Well, as you might have guessed, I'm giving you the setting of my next novel, THE YELLOW CANARY, which is in fact the sometimes shocking, but true story of Howard Carter's discovery of Tut's tomb. The narrative is often more exciting than the tomb discovery, for this is a novel about real people. You will meet Carnarvon's beautiful daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert. She was the first person on the excavation team to wiggle her body into tut's tomb, and the first woman to wiggle her way into Carter's heart. What actually happened at the tomb, the private arrangements, the incompetance of graft-ridden government bureaucracies, and an out of control international press, is the purpose of my tale to unfold.