Rated of 5
by Beverly Palace Circle
A spunky American girl weds a upper-crust English nobleman and brings her free-thinking ways to the English society. The book spans two world wars, has a number of juicy family scandals and locations ranging from VIrginia, London, and Cairo. As a librarian who does some Reader's Advisory, this will be an interesting book to recommend for those vaguely unfamiliar with WWI, England's interest in empire building, social reforms in England and Egyptian slums, and a woman's changing place in society.
Rated of 5
by Marjorie Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean
This is a great book for fans of historical novels. I have read every Philippa Gregory book I could get my hands on and found this novel to be right up there on the same level of interest. The plot was fast moving and the history of Cairo during World War II was new to me and very interesting. I really enjoyed Delia's character. I will be looking for Rebecca Dean's next novels.
Rated of 5
by Sally Palace Circle
When I cannot capture the imagination of a book, I tend to find the phrases that do not work with the time period. It was disconcerting to read a five person account. Not being a writer I do not know what could be done but it was a little daunting having to change thought processes for each main character.
Rated of 5
by Brenda A New Story on an Old Subject
Having recently read countless books on WW II, a surprise was to unfold as this story took on Egypt's part in this war. Who thinks of Egypt when on the subject of Hitler or the Holocaust?
The only fault with this story is the necessity to mention how gorgeous and well-dressed the main characters are. It was actually annoying at times because there was a fantastic story to be told and it would have been just as good with plain-looking heroes/heroines.
The ending was also a surprise...a nice one, but still unexpected.
This was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone...even those who say "please not another WWII book"!
Rated of 5
by Pam Palace Circle
This is not Phillipa Gregory...should not be compared as such. I actually enjoyed the book as an easy, light, quick read. Although I could predict what was going to happen, I still enjoyed the story but probably would not ever pick up another novel by this author. What I liked about the book was the time period and the information about Cairo during that time was new to me. What I did not like was the fact that it did not have as much depth of character (which I was expecting).
Once I got past the things I did not like and just accepted it for it was (a light read) I just relaxed & enjoyed.
If you are looking for a book to pass the time & not have to concentrate, this is for you.
Rated of 5
by Kim, Texas Palace Circle
I enjoyed reading this book. While it is somewhat of a 'lightweight' - it is difficult to suspend disbelief in the characters' larger-than-life circumstances - it is a fast, easy read. So once you just 'go with it', the story is enjoyable. I was a little disturbed by the way the author has every character involved in an extramarital affair (except the ones she kills off); all of whom having married the wrong person ~ definitely overdone. All in all - a good read airplane or beach read. But, best not to put it in front of the unread books in line waiting their turn on your bookshelf.
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