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Editorial Review:
Over the years, Barbara Erskine has been able to build up a considerable following for her densely plotted, imaginative novels of romantic suspense. Her particular speciality is the vigorously created world she imagines for her characters. In Whispers in the Sand, her heroine Anna Fox undertakes a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan, following the progress of a journey her great grandmother, Louisa, made in the 19th century. The details of the recently divorced Anna's odyssey are handled with dazzling authority, and even if the multiple love story at the centre of the narrative was not so adroitly handled, we would still be beguiled by the panoply of a powerfully drawn Egyptian journey.
Erskine never loses sight of the fact that the reader must be thoroughly engaged by the problems she sets for her characters. Anna takes on her trip two of Louisa's possessions (the latter was a famous artist): an Egyptian scent bottle from the distant past and a beautifully illustrated diary of the original cruise that no one has read for over a century. We are allowed to be caught up in a fascinating love story from the Victorian era as Anna reads the diary, and more sinister relics of the past (such as the glass bottle) give an edge to the romantic intrigue. As Anna's journey progresses, other members of the party seem to be interested in the mementoes, and there is a rivalry between two men for her attention.
However, the most compelling strand to Erskine's tale is the sinister haunting that Anna finds herself the victim of, as a mysterious presence begins to exert a grip over her. Readers nowadays are used to narratives that take place simultaneously in both the past and the present (such as AS Byatt's Possession, for instance), but the device is handled with particular skill here. In fact, those who have enjoyed such Barbara Erskine books as On the Edge of Darkness will probably be surprised at the sophisticated enjoyment on offer here: this is her most ambitious book yet, and her sensuous scene-setting is first-rate:
Louisa set down her pen and stared out of the window at the dark river outside. She had pulled over the lavish shutters to allow the smell of it, the warmth of the night air, the occasional breath of chill wind from the desert to enter her cabin. It all captivated her. She listened carefully. Above, the stars were violent sparks against the blue-black sky. There was a slight movement behind her, and she turned...
--Barry Forshaw
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Sub standard I found this book extremely disappointing on many levels. Not least the ending!
Having read and loved "Lady of Hay" and "Child of the Phoenix" I decided to revisit this author and with a recent trip along the Nile I opted for "Whispers in the Sand" to reacquaint myself. What a let down.
The only redeeming feature of this book was that it relived many of my own personal experiences - excluding the magical talisman and ghosts, naturally.
The characters were flimsy, particularly the main... more info
A brilliant book...until the ending...or lack of Never having read a Erskine novel before I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The detail on Egypt was interesting and linked in well with the story, and the two stories of Anna and Louisa worked well. However, this has got to be the worst ending of any book I have ever read. I had read 500 pages wondering how they would finally deal with the priests, for what, for it to be left to my imagination..what a cop out! The characters were hurriedly finished off or killed off with no... more info
An OK read about Egypt but not all that gripping This is the first book by Barbara Erskine that I've read, and this one was as an audiobook (17 hours) rather than a paperback, which can make the experience different. Overall I was interested enough to keep reading, the setting of the book in Egypt today and of 100 years ago (through the two narrators, Anna and her great great grandmother Louisa) was very well written and it was easy to get lost into the world of Egypt whilst listening. Anna, the modern-day heroine, is on an Egyptian cruise and... more info
Whispers in the Sand Always a fan of anything to do with Egypt, I loved the mystery of this novel. I felt I was in Egypt as part of the cruise and kep looking behind me for the spectars. Good plot, scary at times, especially when the lights went out each night. Good holiday read but then I am an avid Barbara Erskine fan.
