Allinji, A Woman of Sumeria by Hugh Bowen

This is a historical novel.   The main character is a renaissance type woman living 2100 to 2000 BC in an area of Iraq called Sumeria.   Her home city and the capital of a loose affiliation of nation states was UR.   The author starts with an actual historic trip of his own mother to Iraq in the 1930s.   This leads to his mother meeting a woman named Allinji who purports to be the descendent of the Allinji of the book title.  

The author paints Allinji as a warrior scientist with political skills.   She implements women’s rights and champions education but is also ruthless and deadly.   The book was interesting and after doing some research seems accurate as to the innovations introduced in that time period.  

I was a bit disappointed that the author did not come full circle with Allinji’s tale and abruptly ended the story.   I think a wrap up would make it more palatable to the average reader. 

I did enjoy the book.

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.