Lost in a Pyramid or the Mummy's Curse (Louisa May Alcott)

In order to help me find more books to fill my shelves, I hired two assistants--an Arabic Egyptian named Ahmed and a Londoner named Kilbronson.  Together, we hope to track down as many classic mummy stories as we can.  

Within a day, they had already brought me a goodish pile, and this one was towards the top of the list.  It's a little-known gem by Louisa May Alcott (you know, of Little Women fame?).  Now, I'll start this review my admitting that I'm not in love with this book cover.  But, that's the cover that Goodreads used, so that's the one that I'm going to use, too.

So, let's talk about this mummy chiller.  Finally, we have a mummy that's not completely sweet and charming!  Ironically, though, the mummy doesn't do too much on her own.  Of course, as always, there are spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.

In this story, a man gives his girlfriend some seeds, telling her that he cannot share their origin, because that story is too terrible to recount.  She pushes back slightly and the man folds like a cheap suit and tells her everything.

And everything, in this context, is a story about he and his friend made a bunch of stupid decisions, got lost in a pyramid, and burned a mummy in order to create a smoke signal for their rescuers to follow.  Apparently, the mummy they burned was buried with a small box of seeds close to her breast, and of course, there's not only a curse on the seeds, there's a curse on her, too--because she's a sorceress.

If you're confused, it's okay.  So was I.  Two friends burn an Egyptian sorceress's mummy in order to create a smoke signal and bring about her wrath is not a usual story that you'd expect to find.  But, here's where it gets crazy.  The girlfriend suggests planting the sorceress's seeds.  In protest, her boyfriend throws them into the fire, only to reveal later that he had saved one of the seeds and had his friend plant it.  And the girlfriend reveals that she did the same thing.

Against all better judgement, friend and girlfriend decide to wear their flowers on their person, and the flower's deadly poison (a mummy's curse?) seeps into their skin and kills them.  Shock and horror abound!

I guess I'd have to admit that I saw the ending coming--after a point.  And while I enjoyed this story, it was too short to really sink my teeth into.  The biggest thing that stood out to me is the continual line of terrible decisions being made by all the characters involved.

Cheers to my assistants for starting things off with a bang.  I'll keep you all posted on the other titles they send my way.