While the Sands Whisper

by Linda Ruth Horowitz

No stranger to challenge; the freelance American-Israeli documentary photographer, embarks on an adventure-filled, hazardous journey to photograph the Bedouin of Sinai; her camera reveals unforseen secrets of a ruthless desert.

Ayishah meets her charismatic desert guide, Hakim Al-khalifa; whose life is lived on a rugged terrain where a constant battle for survival forces the Bedouin into illicit dealings, Thirty years his elder, their age difference mean little in a parched landscape hiding so many secrets. Ayishah is slowly drawn into a highly-fobidden love affair, and learns of Hakim's dangerous underground involvement in opium and female trafficking from Sinai to Israel.

Along this risky journey Ayishah becomes suspect of Egyptian authorities, and together with two innocent Russian women; prey of a Russian prostitution syndicate, Ayishah is now forced to escape her beloved Sinai.

This novel is a result of many journeys to the Gulf of Akaba and Sinai’s mystical landscapes.

CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/4204389

244 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2013

About the author

Educated at the University of Hardcore Travel... 53 countries stamped into her passports.

For over two decades, the author, Linda Ruth Horowitz has worked as a freelance photo-journalist in Scandinavia and Europe, publishing photographs and stories for magazines and publications.
 
Her works have been exhibited internationally.

Reviews

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the Sand Whispers tells the story of an American-Israeli woman as she travels and photographs the desert and its people. And of course, along the way, she falls in love with her young Bedouin guide, only to discover his involvement in opium- and people-trafficking.

I am an avid fan of learning through reading, and so, having read numerous nonfiction books and articles about the Sinai and the Bedouin people, I was intrigued to read While the Sand Whispers, the first fictional book related to Sinai that I've read. It's always fun to read stories set in familiar places, especially when that familiar place is your home! I especially appreciated the Bedouin poetry, translated and researched by Clinton Bailey, that the author intersperses throughout the story. Local residents and travelers who have visited the region may enjoy this adventurous love story set in Sinai. Readers unfamiliar with the region will learn much about the area and the local Bedouin.

*I received a free copy of the eBook from the author.

[IndieHeart · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this novel, the sense of place is as much a character in the novel as Ayishah, Hakim, and the other characters who populate the story. Life on a conservative Israeli kibbutz, the homes and lifestyle of the Bedouins of the Sinai, and Jerusalem (although it plays a smaller part) are described in a way that let's you pretend along that you are there, feeling the hot desert breeze.

The characters in the novel are complex. Readers who have difficulty identifying with a protagonist who sees more shades of gray than most people may have difficulty with this novel. If you are able to suspend your sense of morality for a while, you will enjoy this book for the picture it paints of one woman trying to find her way in two cultures she was not raised in. I would seldom have agreed with the things that Ayishah did, but I very much enjoyed reading her story.

In addition to romance and exotic locations, While the Sands Whisper has gangsters, human trafficing, and rains of bullets. Definitely not a sedate little romance!

Although I enjoyed this story, I give it 4 stars instead of 5. It would be a 5 if I didn't think it needed another run-through on the proofreading front. Mind you, it's not chockful 'o problems. I'm just a freak about grammar in published work and would like to see a few punctation problems (commas are so pesky!) and left-out words cleaned up. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Jill Dobbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly enjoyed this book about a nomadic woman who finds love, danger, intrigue, and her own identity in the Sinai Peninsula. It is a well written story that I occasionally had to remind myself was actually fictional, a genre that I read sporadically. While living in Egypt, I also had the opportunity to travel totheSinai Desert,swim in the Red Sea, vacation in Nueiba, visit St. Catherine's Monastery, and climb Mount Sinai. It was exciting for me to read again about those places that I had once experienced. The mysteries of the Bedouin tribes and their intriguing lifestyle that is so unfamiliar to us is also what drew me to this fascinating read.


Jill Dobbe, Author
HERE WE ARE & THERE WE GO:
Teaching and Traveling With Kids in Tow

[Oscar Sanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book thoughout, not only inviting, but truly submitting you to the Beduin life and spirit. Through written images, wise words and uncountable impacting situations, the book transmits an inviting glance, not only of the Beduin experience, but on you life itself. It enriches you as a person and opens your eyes to yet another one of the worlds beautiful corners through the eyes of a extraordinary writer.

[Mihaela Năstase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book, reading it, took me back to my many trips in Sinai. It is great to read about the places that I've visited and where I've experienced wonderful feelings. It is like I'm there again. Page after page, this book fascinates me! The love, the emotions, the mystery and the magic of this book are unique! I highly recommend it to those who want to be brought into a world of wonders.