Whispers in the Sand (Charnwood Library) [Large Print] [Perfect Paperback]

Barbara Erskine (Author)

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708992900
• ISBN-13: 978-0708992906
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,490,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Supernatural Stalkings, October 17, 2002

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whispers in the Sand (Charnwood Library) (Perfect Paperback)

Barbara Erskine re-explores her favorite themes of obsession, romance, and the supernatural in this 500+-page novel told against the exotic backdrop of the lush banks of the Nile and the fascinating monuments of Egypt's ancient kings.

In 1866, famous artist Louisa Shelley, newly widowed, cruises down from Luxor to Ashram. She recounts her travel adventures through her paintings/sketches and in her diary. In particular she revels in the telling of a newfound love and his love token of an ancient scent bottle.

Now in modern times, Louisa's great-great-granddaughter, Anna, at odds with her own life, returns to the scene of her ancestor's adventure, bringing the diary and the now antique scent bottle back to Egypt where their return initiates a chain of events which threaten Anna's very life. Feelings of greed, obsession,and jealousy stir amongst the passengers on-board Anna's cruise, but the main force unleashed whirls from the hub of the scent bottle, the contents of which is protected by two malevolent priests who drain the lifeforce of all those who come within the bottle's sphere of influence.

This particular foray into the supernatural is written very much in the more hurried style Ms Erskine employs in "On The Edge of Darkness". The characters are not as finely drawn as in her earlier successes, "Lady of Hay" and "Child of the Phoenix", nor does it contain the mind-chilling fear generated so frightfully well in "House of Echoes". Here, the frenetic state of the modern-day cruise passengers due from "exposure" to the priests and the bottle seems trite and a little too indignant to be considered realistic. There is a lot of angry repetitive conversation and a lot of toe-treading right from the start which in a normal holiday environment would not exist and could only be thought of as contrived by the author to suggest the dark behind-the-scenes workings of the priests. Even so, the events flow quickly and remain somewhat interesting due to the technique of interspercing Louisa's diary entries---by far the more compelling of the two parallel tales--- with corresponding moments during Anna's tour. One final problem---As the story runs on, accruing one catastrophe after another, it dies abruptly with no apparent ending or resolution other than an afterward by the author where we are told that we, like the characters, must acknowledge the priests' evil and decide that some form of semi-unification amongst the book's persona will eventually and successfully combat it. While this ending may seem "real", it is nonetheless not a satisfacatory literary ending. The priests may or may not be subdued, nothing is rectified concretely and consequently,the reader feels taken for a 500+ page ride with an appropriate destination in sight, but, alas, disappointingly never quite reaches the goal. Nevertheless, I still recommend it as Ms Erskine's niche of combining the supernatural with the everyday has otherwise not been filled.
Hopefully, Ms Erskine's next endeavor will render a more satisfactory conclusion and rekindle that fresh interest in the unknown/occult that her earlier works evoke.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A touch of the occult, July 8, 2004

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Whispers in the Sand (Charnwood Library) (Perfect Paperback)

This is an exciting novel which grabs your attention from the word go ! Recovering from a recent divorce, Anna decides to follow in the footsteps of her famous great,great grandmother, an artist of some renown and make a trip to Egypt. She embarks on a luxury cruise from Luxor to Aswan, carrying with her two of her great grandmother Louisas' legacies- a glass scent bottle and her diary. The story then switches backwards and forwards to encompass the stories of both women.
I found it to be a book that I couldn't put down and on several nights, was horrified to see that it was 2am and not only was I still engrossed, but was literally bug-eyed with the drama of it..be warned !!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NILE, May 5, 2003

By 

Pratik "pratikgurung" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whispers in the Sand (Charnwood Library) (Perfect Paperback)

Anna is a recently divorced wwoman who decides to go to Egypt on a vacation for refreshment. She also takes a scent bottle and a journal of her great great grandmother, Louisa. Louisa made her journey to Egypt during the mid nineteen hundred and she was accompanied by her guide Hassan. the scent bottle isnt an ordinary one, its very sacred and Carstairs want it. The scent bottle was a gift from Hassan to Louisa. The scent bottle belongs to the lords. Anna keep on reading Louisa's journal and meanwhile her adventure continues too as so many people in the ship envied her scent bottle and she has been pursued by Carstairs. The adventure begins........