Book Description
It's all a grand adventure when Christy Mansel unexpectedly runs into her cousin Charles in Damascus. And being young, rich, impetuous, and used to doing whatever they please, they decide to barge in uninvited on their eccentric Great-Aunt Harrietdespite a long-standing family rule strictly forbidding unannounced visits. A strange new world awaits Charles and Christy beyond the gates of Dar Ibrahim"Lady Harriet's" ancient, crumbling palace in High Lebanonwhere a physician is always in residence and a handful of Arab servants attends to the odd old woman's every need.
But there is a very goodvery sinisterreason why guests are not welcome at Dar Ibrahim. And the young cousins are about to discover that, as difficult as it is to break into the dark, imposing edifice, it may prove even harder still to escape . . .
It's all a grand adventure when Christy Mansel unexpectedly runs into her cousin Charles in Damascus. And being young, rich, impetuous, and used to doing whatever they please, they decide to barge in uninvited on their eccentric Great-Aunt Harrietdespite a long-standing family rule strictly forbidding unannounced visits. A strange new world awaits Charles and Christy beyond the gates of Dar Ibrahim"Lady Harriet's" ancient, crumbling palace in High Lebanonwhere a physician is always in residence and a handful of Arab servants attends to the odd old woman's every need.
But there is a very goodvery sinisterreason why guests are not welcome at Dar Ibrahim. And the young cousins are about to discover that, as difficult as it is to break into the dark, imposing edifice, it may prove even harder still to escape . . .
This was the first Mary Stewart book I ever read and I fell in love with her writing. Wonderful writer, wonderful characters!
A fun read for the beautiful descriptions of the middle east. So-so adventure plot, with twists that were kind of far-fetched, but entertaining. Not as good as the Moonspinners.
Standard Stewart fare, with a plucky young woman facing danger.
It was a good book.It is about dogs!
I love the exotic flavor in this book. For us, here and now, it seems strange that the MidEast was a lovely place, easy for tourists to travel in and get around with not that much danger. It's rather heart-breaking to read her descriptions of Lebanon and Syria in fact. Also an interesting little mystery that unfolds quite nicely even though it may seem there's not a lot going on at first. Christy is the innocent young traveler with not much more on her mind than sightseeing and shopping, and her cousin Charles is certainly more suspicious. I liked how Christy got all spitfire during the abduction, and how she worked out what Halide had done. Lovely imagery as always from Stewart, during the climatic scene you can practially hear the flames about you.
Another one of Mary Stewarts exotic locale thrillers.
