Sarah Bryant combines elements of adventure, love,
treachery and mystery in SAND DAUGHTER, a compelling novel
that takes place in the Middle East near the end of the
12th century during the Crusades. Khalidah, a 16-year-old
daughter of a Bedouin sheikh has little choice when it
comes to marrying her cousin, but a warning of danger from
a minstrel named Sulayman sends the two fleeing on
horseback into the night on an adventure. While traveling,
Khalidah learned more about her mother who came from the
Jinn, a warrior race mostly known from legend. Brekhna
left when Khalidah was small, but the girl can still piece
together bits of her childhood.
The story follows Khalidah and Sulayman as well as the
experiences of her childhood friend, Bilal who ends up in
the Sultan's army before the battle against the foreigners
whom he plans to oust from Jerusalem once and for all. The
tale explores various relationships, both likely and
unlikely--that have the lives of the main characters
criss-crossing in myriad ways. In addition to Khalidah and
Bilal, Bryant introduces us to some of the Jinn, the
Sultan and his sons as well as foreigners including
members of the Knights Templar and Count Tripoli. She
carefully illustrates various points of view, but the
fight for Jerusalem comes down to different beliefs and
one piece of land. For some, only one religion is right,
while others wonder if it isn't possible to live and let
live, respecting each other's beliefs but acknowledging
that all are individuals. The question arises too as to
how much of religion is faith and how much is symbology.
Bryant moves easily from viewpoint to viewpoint, leaving
readers precariously hanging between each, so we're eager
to get back to each storyline. The only part of the book
that dragged a little for me was actual battle scenes. The
reward of Bryant's lyrical prose compensates for this
minor complaint. She brings both people and landscapes to
life from the emptiness of the desert to the harsh beauty
of the mountain crags to the precarious marshes and salt
desert to the lush paradise of the Jinn's homeland and the
awe-inspiring miracle of night changing into day.
"Overhead the sky was still dark and strewn with
stars,
but a rim of brightness ran along the horizon, as if night
were a lid on the world and day fought to break the
seal."
Fans of historical fiction will devour this tale and those
who enjoy romance and mystery will find SAND DAUGHTER worth
a look as well. Bryant adds a touch of mysticism to appeal
to fantasy lovers as well. Overall, it's a book that has
something for everyone.
"An epic filled with emotion and rich with atmosphere"
( Historical Novel Society) from the author of The
Other Eden.
Khalidah faces an arranged
marriage at the behest of her father, a Bedouin Clan chief.
But when a mysterious stranger named Sulayman reveals the
machinations behind her pending union, she suddenly finds
herself a pawn in a deadly plot involving her own feuding
tribe and the powerful Templar Knights.
Faced with
certain death, Khalidah runs away with Sulayman, a man she
barely knows. Their journey, and the desire that grows
between them, will thrust Khalidah toward unimaginable
adventure, and the echoes of a past that somehow connect her
to the Jinn-the mysterious Afghan warriors who may hold the
key to the coming battle for the Holy Land.
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