The blurb:

"As a child, Rose dreams of trevelling to far-flung places, particularly to Rosetta, the mysterious town in Egypt after which she is named. Transfixed by this exotic world, she imagines that one day she will visit the land of hieroglyphs and history. But instead Rose must marry the handsome and duplicious Harry Fallon. With Harry, Rose discovers passion, but also a terrible secret - and so she sets out alone on a journey to Egypt, determined to learn the truth about her husband's past and to realise her long-held desire for adventure."

This book is part social commentary and part treasure hunt. Set at the end of the eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries it is basically an exposé of the treatment of women in both England and Egypt.

However, it is amusingly written in a somewhat naive style which reminded me strongly of a particular childrens' book, "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge. http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4270232

Rose is a very strong woman who is faced with almost overwhelming problems and difficulties and is forced to make some less-than-ideal choices in her life. Her cousin and best friend, Fanny, must make choices as well, which she does in a very innovative way.

I really enjoyed this book; it kept my interest right to the end, the characters were entirely believable and the situations in which Rose found herself were not entirely impossible, although her trust in a group of people who were unable to understand her language, or she theirs, was foolhardy in the extreme.

My favourite character was, without a doubt, Mrs Venetzia Alabaster who ended up with a Bedouin Sheikh after Mr Alabaster went to that great big grog shop in the sky.

RELEASE NOTES: