Nefret Emerson
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Nefret Emerson (née Forth) is a fictional character from a series of mystery novels written by Elizabeth Peters and featuring fictional sleuth and archaeologist Amelia Peabody.
Nefret is introduced in The Last Camel Died at Noon. When the Emersons set off to find out whether Willy Forth, an old acquaintance of Emerson, is still alive in a mysterious hidden oasis, they are stranded without water, transportation or guides, until a man they thought was a peasant leads them to a lost civilization in a far-off valley. The settlement seems to have developed from a lost tribe of Cush and preserved many of the customs and lore that Amelia and Emerson have only read about.
In the midst of a political struggle between two brothers -- one good and one evil, of course! -- the Emersons find that Willy Forth and his wife did make it to this land, and that they left a daughter, raised entirely within the culture of ancient Egypt, and now thirteen years old.
Nefret returns to England with the Emersons, and they adopt her in order to keep her away from her depraved grandfather (her last surviving relative). Eventually, he dies and leaves her a large fortune. She decides to do her best to learn about and live with English culture, but (to Amelia's secret satisfaction), she stands out as an independent, intelligent, bold and (to Amelia's dismay) mischievous woman.
Ramses Emerson, meanwhile, is smitten with Nefret from the moment he sees her, which evolves into a mature love over the course of several stories. After some monumental misunderstandings between them, he and Nefret are finally married after the events of He Shall Thunder in the Sky.
Thanks to her fortune, Nefret goes to medical school, becomes a surgeon, and opens a clinic in Cairo for prostitutes and poor women.
Ramses and Nefret have two children, twins Charla and David John, and at the end of Tomb of the Golden Bird it is revealed that Nefret is pregnant again. (Amelia believes the baby will be a girl, due to a dream she had.)
Nefret is described as slim, with red-gold hair and a beautiful singing voice. She is adept with knife, bow, and medical kit. Her Egyptian nickname is Nur Misur, "Light of Egypt".
