The Last Camel Died at Noon

The Last Camel Died at Noon is book number 6 out of a long list of 17 Amelia Peabody mysteries set in and around 19th century England and Egypt.

This novel and the 16 other by Elizabeth Peters are not usual book club fare and questions may be hard to find.   Here are some to get your group talking.

1. One of the negatives of a first-person narrator is that he/she describes everyone else in the novel but themselves.  How would you describe this female Indiana Jones?
2. Discuss the Emerson-Peabody partnership in marriage and the study of archaeology.  Where does 10-year-old Ramses fit into the partnership?
3. Countless references are made to fairy tales, legends and imaginary characters such as Robin Hood and Beauty and the Beast, not to mention the  Victorian adventure stories of E. Rider Haggard.  What do you think was the author’s purpose?
4. “Emerson likes to think that he is the master of his fate and the lord of all he surveys.”  Does the author’s characterization of the male figure in the late 19th century still prove true in the modern world?
5. Discuss the distinct roles of the male and female as seen in 19th century England.  Egypt.  The civilization inside the Holy Mountain.
6. At first, the Emersons see Kemit as nothing more than just another hired worker.  What subtle clues does Elizabeth Peters employ to give the reader a completely different impression of this mysterious character.
7. “People make fun of the British for maintaining formal standards in the wild.”  Which of the affectations did you think were necessary?  Which were absurd? Which could have proven detrimental to the family’s well being?
8. At first Emerson refused to be part of a rescue mission for the missing  Willoughby Forth and his young bride.  What chain of events changed the Egyptologist’s mind?
9. During the ceremony in the Great Temple, Chapter 15, Peabody observed: “For the first time I realized fully the power of superstition and knew that the religion I had studied with scholarly detachment had been, and was, a living breathing force.  These people believed.  They would accept the decision of the god and defend his chosen one.”   Explain how one person’s religion can be an outsider’s superstition and vice versa.
10. What keeps the Holy Mountain from being a Utopia or perfect world in the desert?
11. The Last Camel Died at Noon could be categorized as a mystery, a romance or an adventure story.  Choose one of the three classifications and defend your choice.