Prolific author Barbara Erskine takes readers on a wild ride of magic, ghosts, romance, and everything in between in her suspenseful romance novel; Whispers in the Sand. Full of Egyptian lore like you have never seen before, this surprisingly wonderful story holds within it a great power; I am referring less to the ghostly magical priests in the novel and more to its ability to captivate readers.
An Egyptian Setting for Romantic Suspense
Egypt is such a gallant choice for a romance novel setting because there is so much wonder to the country, its culture and its people. The mystery of Egypt's past has long had archaeologists and historians in its eternal grip and now it will equally enthrall readers through this perfectly written novel. The sand dunes, ancient monuments and ever-moving Nile waters hold the backdrop for a story that is chilling to the core, yet heart-warming all at the same time.
Readers will follow along as one woman journeys along the same route her ancestor took and in a miraculous way encounter some of the same evils and blessings. Anna Fox receives her great-grandmothers antique scent bottle, along with her previously well-hidden journal, and finds herself making one spooky walk through the same experiences her great-grandmother endured.
I loved the plot line right from the beginning. Entirely unique, I have never before read about a cursed scent bottle bringing the worst sort of trouble to a poor, unknowing divorcee. Having not read Barbara Erskine's work before, I was completely surprised to find how much I enjoyed the book. The sort of mystery and suspense created in this novel lends a high praise to this author's talent. Purely entertaining, this is the sort of novel when only a cliched sentence will do: this book was impossible to put down.
One Woman's Journey, Two Egyptian Priests and a Romantic Suspense Novel is Born
Having known the barest of facts about Egyptian lore, I was astounded by the way Barbara Erskine easily blended myth with fiction and introduced me to a history I had not known. Not only do readers get an unprecedented description of the setting on a Nile cruise. that takes you from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings, but also an inside look at Egyptian gods and the priests that worshiped them. An old religion, mixed with some new age beliefs, create a mysticism to this novel that adds a sort of suspense all its own.
Besides the supernatural ghosts out to protect one thing and one thing only, Anna also deals with constant suspicions and terror aboard her cruise. When ghosts aren't trying to scare her, Anna is trying to find her stolen possessions, figure out two men who may be interested in her journal more than her, pick up her ramshackle life, find out what happened to her great-grandmother and try to tell herself she isn't crazy while trying to commune with the dead. If that isn't suspenseful, I don't know what is.
Something I really liked about this book, which also lent to the fast pace of the story, was the point of views it was written in. Not only do we read from the mind of Anna, but also from that of her great-grandmother and the deceased priests. This also gives us a handful of subplots that all somehow intricately weave together to create one major plot. The characters, too, I enjoyed immensely. Somehow they were intimately relatable, while being so far-fetched as to be too interesting to be true.
This novel is almost too deep to be considered light, but too fanciful to be truly deep. Some events coincide with things we face in today's world, but mostly the story is a great piece for readers to get away from the daily grind and escape into a novel. I recommend it for anyone who likes a strong female lead, a sensory overload of setting details and a plot that is on-the-edge-of-your-seat gripping.
About the Author
The internationally selling author of over eleven full-length novels and four short story collections, Barbara Erskine has sold more than three million copies worldwide and published in over twenty four languages. A true historian at heart, Barbara Erskine is the ghost-seeing author of Lady of Hay, of which she released a 25th Anniversary Edition in February 2011.
Source
- Erskine, Barbara, Whispers in the Sand, Sourcebooks Inc., July 2011, ISBN 978-1-4022-6175-6 (Previously released in U.K. 2009)
Jessica Hastings - Jessica Hastings is a published author/poet, professional reviewer, and avid reader. Schooled in journalism and creative writing, she ...
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