Customer Reviews

Across

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A page turner that explores both the exotic and the erotic: this is a love/adventure story about two women, lovers, tested by nightmare circumstances. The strength of the main character becomes her ability disappear into a world of passive, veiled women while she searches for her kidnapped partner. Global politics, action, tenderness, violence: this novel has it all.

While the subtitle suggests this is a "lesbian novel," its appeal will be irresitable for any reader.

I found this book lacking in both intrigue and romance. The writing is moderately good, but the plot sags in places. I didn't get any sense of connection or urgency in the romance until the one lover was kidnapped. One of the things I found strange was that a well-educated, professional woman would persist in nosing into what was going on even though she had been warned off and slightly injured. I had no indication that she thought she could really do anything when the captain of the ship was obviously disinclined to get involved in what was cleary a sticky situation. I do understand why after the kidnapping her lover went to find her. It isn't a very long book, but it took me a while to get through it.

This book is a lucious sleeper: while the heroines are lesbians engaged in discreet and sensual romance, they are also strong and wonderfully different women whose plan for privacy on a small freighter to Turkey goes excitingly awry when they become enmeshed in the nefarious goings-on of a veiled retinue of Arab women under the control of a tribal prince. The unrestrained curiosity of Claudia leads to her strange disappearance,and an unscheduled stop in Algeria. The intrigue that follows allows the author to introduce us to the exotic culture of a faraway desert people, combining visually lush and beautiful descriptions of the Sahara with the terror and hopelessness of separation from all one knows. Reminiscent of The Sheltering Sky, this lovely little book will keep you up all night!