Francine Prose is the author of numerous books, including Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932; Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife; and Reading Like a Writer. A Distinguished Writer in Residence at Bard College, she lives in New York.

Shrouded in myth, the legends of Cleopatra have captivated writers and artists for centuries. Exploring how the Egyptian queen is so often cast as a cruel and distrustful seductress, Francine Prose shows the ways this portrayal has often been driven by orientalism and misogyny and offers a fresh interpretation of Cleopatra's history.