Whispers in the Sand

by Barbara Erskine

Recently divorced, Anna decides to cheer herself up by retracing a journey her great grandmother made in the nineteenth century: a Nile cruise from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings. Anna carries with her on the voyage two mementoes of her great-grandmother Louisa: an ancient Egyptian scent bottle, and the diary of that original Nile cruise, which has lain unread for a hundred years. As she follows in Louisa's footsteps, Anna discovers in the diary the chilling secret of the scent bottle and is pursued by the same terrifying spectres as her great grandmother.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Fantasy, Egypt, Paranormal

575 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

An historian by training, Barbara Erskine is the author of six bestselling novels that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural, plus two collections of short stories. Her books have appeared in at least twenty different languages. She lives with her family in an ancient manor house near Colchester, and in a cottage near Hay-on-Wye.

Reviews

[Lynne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book to me and I took it out of politeness. It really wasn't my genre at all. Well I started reading it and was hooked from page 1. I read it far into the night on three consecutive days and just couldn't get enough of it. I should mention, this is not a short book - 574 pages.

I think the reason why I was so taken by this book is that I went on a cruise along the Nile in the early nineties. The boat was small like the one described in this book and I believe it was called the Nile Sphinx. I followed the same itinerary but I certainly didn't have the experience of Anna Fox, who had been recently divorced and was following the same route as her great, great grandmother, Louisa, from Luxor to Aswan.

Everything revolves around this little glass bottle with its three thousand year old past. The stories of the two women delicately weave around this and are so skilfully done. They are seamless in fact. There is love, intrigue, mystery and this work is indeed multi-faceted. The supernatural sections seemed to be so real that they left me rather breathless. In addition, the descriptions are exquisite!

Be spellbound as I was and read this book!

[Kathleen Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine was first released in 2000 to rave reviews. When I saw that Sourcebooks was offering a review copy, I was so excited. Why?? Barbara Erskine is my favorite author and has been since I read Lady of Hay. In fact, I remember that I had to order the book online with my first computer. I had to order it from the UK and when I did receive it I was thrilled. It took me a few years to read it...not because it was a bad book but because I wanted to savor it and didn't want it to end. I think I even took it along on my first trip to Ireland. Finish it I did and I think it was also one of my first reviews on my blog. I am not a reader who will reread a book but Barbara's books I definitely will.

That said, chapter one opens with this paragraph:

" May there be nothing to resist me at my judgement;
may there be no opposition to me;
may there be no parting of thee from me
in the presence of him that keepeth the scales."

" It is thirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ".....

The chapters of the story are told in alternating voices; Anna Fox, as she is on her cruise in Egypt as a vacation away from the stress of her life, of Louisa, Anna's great-grandmother who took a similar cruise in the Victorian era and lastly the ghosts of the dead priests. All these stories combine to tell a powerful spooky story of love, hate, evil, curse's on ancient relics and secrets of a diary. The way that the author told the story had me immersed from the first page and I could not wait to pick it up again, even staying up late to finish it. The research is impeccable and the writing is easy to read, I felt like I was right there with Anna as she discovers more of her great-grandmother's story. I give this book 5 stars and I highly recommend it for fans of historical fiction and specifically the Egyptian era. You will not be disappointed!

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a little disappointed in this novel, and I really hoped I wouldn't be because I can't afford a weekend away let alone a two week cruise down the Nile so I planned on living vicariously through it. Unfortunately I just found myself becoming increasingly irritated by it so I'm sharing my thoughts before I even finish it.

#1. If you've never read a book with English grammar it might trip you up a bit. At first I thought there were just an obscene number of typo's.

#2. I just couldn't remain excited about it after the same thing kept happening over and over and over. Heroine sees ghost; creepy men try to coax her into giving them her personal property; repeat twenty times.

#3. The setting is Egypt for crying out loud - I don't care how many ghosts are on board - this chick shivers every other page. Would it have been difficult to come up with ANY other reaction to paranormal activity?!

#4. The author uses the word, "surreptitiously" pretty frequently which I just found odd because it's not a common word you hear in everyday conversation or even read that much. There's nothing wrong with that, I just happened to notice...

#5. I really would have liked a map in addition to or instead of the cruise schedule. Googling pictures of the places they explored was very helpful for my imagination and kept me somewhat interested after I started to get bored with it.

#6. I did like the way she wove the two stories. Often when a novel is told from different points of view or focuses on characters separately it's in a choppy manner, but Erskine pulled it off very smoothly.

Really, about half of this book could have been removed and the story wouldn't have changed at all. I'm still on the look out for an exotic setting to vacation to in my mind...

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread of this book as I read it 10 years ago and adored it.
Barbara Erskine does this book great justice as she so elegantly delivers the story about Anna and her holiday to Egypt with her deceased relatives diary and glass trinket bottle and paranormal things begin to happen.
This book has two POVs spanning centuries between Anna and her deceased relative Eleanor.
This is one of my favourites of Barbara Erskines books, perhaps because it is set in Egypt which I have always had a fascination and pull to.

[Misfit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna Fox needs a break from London and the ex-husband, and decides to journey to Egypt and retrace the trip along the Nile taken by her great-great-grandmother Louisa . On a whim, she also decides to bring along an ancient scent bottle Louisa had brought back with her - and there's a big mystery surrounding the bottle as it seems to take on a life of its own. Anna has a single cabin on board ship, but *people* sure do seem to come and go as well as things going bump in the night - is someone on board ship hot to get their hands on the scent bottle and Louisa's diary? Who is leaving fragments of incense behind? Are these people real, or a ghostly presence?

Anna reads Louisa's diary in bits and pieces and through her we *see* her story. Louisa was a widow and a painter and whilst touring Egypt and fell in love with her guide Hassan. Hassan was the one who gave her the scent bottle, not knowing its *haunted past*, but there soon comes onto the scene the evil Lord Carstairs who dabbles in black magic and is very very determined to get his hands on the bottle no matter what the costs.

And that's as far as I'm going, if you want to know the rest you'll just have to read it for yourself. This started off fairly well, and I liked the mystery, but things went a bit downhill about halfway through with too many plots and sub-plots, as well as an over abundance of secondary characters. Erskine fans will recognize her standard tropes of the dumped-by-her-cheatin'-husband-heroine-who-spends-the-rest-of-her-life-as-a-doormat-for-other-people, along with the standard duo of men (one good and kind, one a jerk) interested in said heroine with plenty of spooks and things that go bump in the night - hey this one even has a magic snake!

A quick easy read when one is in the mood for a bit of brain candy, and the Egyptian setting was the very best part. Not her best, but Erskine's fans should enjoy this well enough.

[Sarah Rood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story started out with the hope of a beautiful enriching adventurous tale! It had twists ... But the same ones over and over ... The repetition was obnoxious, but the compulsion in me to finish made me press on to the end! I had no reprieve and it led to another unending cycle and no clear or even decent open ended conclusion! It was as if the author was lazy and decided to end it abruptly! The only explanation was the authors after note which gave a pathetic excuse that it could be compared to the "mysteries of life". It was lazy editing and malarkey! No way the publishers should have let the author get away with it! Blah to wasted adventure! I had higher hopes!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tiny bottle with an ancient Egyptian curse. A modern-day story with a yet-to-read diary belonging to a great-great grandmother. Flashbacks. And a forbidden love story. All of that sounded good and entertaining, but...There were several characters that were just annoying. Really annoying. And there was too much repetition, and no resolution. For example, main character sees haunting apparition. She trembles and screams. Nothing happens to resolve. Next chapter...repeat. As a matter of fact, even the ending had no resolution. I was disappointed.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

At best, I found this book uneven. Thought the parts read from the Victorian diary very interesting, but the contemporary narrative, not so much. Aside from the fact that most the characters acted like they were still in high school, I found the 'cursed perfume bottle' storyline a bit absurd, along with the 'magic snake'. And really, just what was all the fuss with the 2 ancient priests feuding over it anyway? It seemed much ado about nothing.

However, I loved the Egyptian setting and the author described the sights and the Victorian lifestyle wonderfully. Only because of this did I get it a higher rating than I would have solely based on the plot.

[Sarah Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical timeslip snooze that annoyed me like a runny nose in allergy season. Tepid, cardboard characters (how many attractive young divorcees can one genre hold?) blended with a lame Scooby Doo mystery & sprinkled with obnoxiously obvious infodumps = yawn.

(N.B.: Hope Lady of Hay is better. At least that one promises some entertainment, what with the '80s ripper echoes sending so many reviewers into a tailspin o' disgust.)

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jeez, this was horrible
Really terrible writing
Bad book
Read it in January of 2006
It stayed with me
It was so bad
I still cringe when I think about the cardboard characters with no real life motivations
General rule of thumb , if the cover is gorgeous
Avoid it
The
Contents
Matter
Disney
Needs
To
Stop
Making
New Star Wars movies
Every year .

[Jan Toy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I love the way it entwines the historical characters into the present day. This was written about Egypt and a few of their Gods. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. Who knows what is true or false about the ancient Gods and heiroglyphics of ancient Egypt and the crypts where the Pharoahs are buried.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finishing off some Egypt reading.
This was my first venture into horror and I won't be rushing back into that genre. The book has modern day, Victorian, and ancient plot lines which intermingled and complemented each other.
Having just visited a bunch of the sites this book is set in made the atmosphere all the more real.
eBook on Libby App.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

200 pages too long.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book by Barbara Erskine that I have read (although I do own several others) and on paper it sounded like the sort of thing I would really enjoy. Having finished it, I can say that I quite liked it but I certainly didn't love it. I thought the descriptions of Egypt were fantastic, really rich and evocative, and I liked how Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion was woven into the story. The central mystery was also quite intriguing. However, there were a couple of areas where this book stumbled for me, the main one being the characterisation. There are two interlinking timelines in this book, the 1860s and the modern day. I really enjoyed the former, I thought the characters were well developed and I was eager to know what was going to happen to them. It's a pity the same cannot be said of those in the modern day storyline. None of them ever felt fully fleshed out to me, particularly the heroine, and one of the supporting characters was so irritating that it became a real distraction and sucked quite a bit of enjoyment out of the book. I don't normally experience such high levels of irritation with characters in books, even if I really do not like them, but this character pushed me to my limit on several occasions. The other area that I felt let this book down was the ending. Or rather the lack of one. In her afterword, the author said she decided to leave things open so that the reader could make up their own mind about what the future held. There are occasions when I think that approach works well. This was not one of them in my opinion. There were too many questions left unanswered and it just didn't work for me.

Overall, this was a pleasant enough book to spend a few hours with but it won't be going on my favourites shelf anytime soon.

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. I really liked Lady of Hay by the same author, and I usually love books that connect modern times with the past, but this one was just dull and annoying.
* There was sexism in Lady of Hay, but I dismissed it as part of the era (both the book's setting and the time the book was written). But it's prevalent in this much later book too. The female characters are patronized and downright bullied by the males. The protagonist has no agency and spends her time wringing her hands and being inactive. There's a touch of exoticification of Egypt too; one Egyptian man is always described by his "big brown hands," and so on. A bit squicky.
* Nothing much happens, and what does happen is repetitive: The protagonist sees a shadow, gets scared, and panics. Men steal things from her, for which she forgives them and does nothing about. She reads a page of the diary, which could help her, but never the whole thing. Repeat.
* The book just stops with no resolution.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

Despite having read this book once before but many, many years ago, I was surprised at how much of the plot that I remembered. I also recollected that this wasn’t one of my more favoured books from this author and now, years down the line, I still agree with this judgement.

[Marloes D · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Zij treedt in de voetsporen van haar overgrootmoeder en gaat op reis naar de Vallei der Koningen..." Anna Fox is een moderne jonge vrouw die net gescheiden is van haar man Felix. Ze heeft een glazen flesje en een dagboek van haar overgrootmoeder Louisa die in de Victoriaanse tijd op vakantie is geweest in Egypte en daarom besluit ze dezelfde reis te maken. Onderweg tonen twee mannen veel belangstelling voor Anna of is het eigenlijk voor het flesje en dagboek van Louisa? De spullen blijken bovendien mystieke krachten los te maken. Gaandeweg ontdekt Louisa het verhaal van haar overgrootmoeder en hoe het zit met het flesje en dagboek.

Spanning: Het boek is spannend tot het eind: zowel wat het mysterie als de romantiek betreft.
Schrijfstijl: Het boek is goed geschreven. De verhaallijnen van Anna en Louisa zijn meesterlijk verweven. Helaas zit er wel erg veel herhaling in van bijvoorbeeld mensen die spullen stelen of hoe ze reageren op de mystieke gebeurtenissen.
Karakters: plat.
Genre: historische en eigentijdse roman, bovennatuurlijke thriller en romance in een.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

For the love of god. Let me save you some time:

Most of the plot revolves around two different men on an Egyptian cruise coming up to Anna, the heroine, every other chapter and asking if they can buy her a drink. Whoever loses in the moment pouts and sulks and stomps away. We get it, she's HAWT.

There's also two horrible spirits terrifying her because of a haunted bottle that's been in her family. How will it be resolved?? Oh no! Keep reading to find out.

No, sorry. There's literally no resolution to the plot, because at the end of the book the winning guy and Anna decide to just stick together and see what happens. The losing guy? Oh yeah, he drowned on the last night of the cruise.

The book even ends with a note by the author about "sometimes you don't know when to end a story".

There's absolutely no reward to reading this book. Have fun with it!

[Jo Varley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent story but irritating ending

[Julia Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed. Time slip novel slipping back to Victorian times and Ancient Egypt. Didn't find it as scary as other Erskines I've read but was quite relieved at that!!

[Sally Sutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my usual type of novel but I was given 6 books by this author- this one appealed the most as I am interested in Egyptian history. It started well and I was intrigued but it became increasingly ridiculous and the modern day heroine was a complete idiot. The ending was inconclusive so I assume there is a sequel but I won’t bother.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book, well read by the narrator.
I like Barbara Erskine stories and know what to expect re the 2 timeline formula, and the writing style, which always includes more ‘shrugging’ than can be good for her characters! However this one was extreme in that regard and ended up spoiling my enjoyment. I found myself trying to think of alternative words for ‘h/she shrugged’ rather than concentrating on the story. That aside (and other readers may not care about it) the story started well but finished poorly and I know other reviewers have said the same. It was never really clear to me what the ghostly priests, Victorian and 21st century villains wanted to achieve by possessing the bottle. Nor could I understand why Anna didn’t just skip to the end of Louisa’s journal and avoid all the tension of wondering what happened to her.
Overall a frustrating tale and not the author’s best, despite the well described and enthralling Egyptian location.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is THE trashy romance novel to bring along with you on a Nile River cruise in Egypt, out of Luxor and environs. Characters visit all the hot spots you will take on the cruise. Perfect to enjoy with a cocktail by the pool.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Barbara Erskine novel I read and I LOVED it. It was my first delve into paranormal and I had a great time playing catch-up with Erskine's other titles.

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this has been the worst book of this year for me. I wonder how much of that attributes to a bad Lithuanian translation.. But still. Guys, read something else.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is my favourite Barbara Erskine book so far :) still dreaming if going to Egypt one day.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I found myself googling the sites to enable me to picture them properly. I liked how the two lives entwined. Looking forward to reading more of this author.

[Agnesxnitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read 'The Lady of Hay' at the instigation of a colleague a couple of years ago, but wasn't obviously encouraged to try another novel by the same author.
Earlier this year I bought this novel from a charity shop (I had tucked the receipt in the book!) and I started reading it at work as my lunch read as the book I had with me finished more quickly than I thought it would do.
I really enjoyed it, I almost raced through it once I picked it up. Anna is divorced and stripped of her confidence after a marriage to a very controlling and egotistical husband left her for his mistress and the baby he said he never wanted. Anna's inimitable Aunt Phyllis encourages Anna to go on holiday to Egypt, a place Anna was fascinated as a younger woman and where her Great Great Grandmother, Louisa, visited over a hundred years before after becoming widowed. Louisa kept a diary and, as a painter, some of her sketches in the journal and Phyllis gives this to Anna for the journey as the younger woman retraces her ancestors steps.
As Anna cruises down the Nile, her fellow passengers prove a mixed bunch. One man with a on/off girlfriend takes more than a passing interest in Anna, the girlfriend takes an unnatural dislike to her, a lady called Serena is a calming influence and a brusque confusing man called Toby makes overtures of friendship one moment and seems furious with her the next. Anna's holiday isn't quite as calming as she hoped.
And then she starts to experience strange feelings of being followed, and feeling threatened. It seems to be linked to a small blue glass scent bottle that Louisa bought back from her travels and has stayed in the family ever since. Anna bought it back to Egypt as a talisman, but it proves to serve a more sinister purpose.
Really interesting story with a fascinating twist. I was chatting with the physio clinics receptionist at a recent appointment so have passed it on to her.

[laura 𓆃 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Anfang war wirklich wunderschön geschrieben, es gibt doch nichts romantischeres als eine Nilkreuzfahrt.
Die zweite Hälfte des Buches dagegen ist mies schlecht. Und wenn der erste Teil nicht so schön gewesen wäre, hätte ich nur 2 Sterne gegeben!

Hier meine Kritikpunkte, die Spoiler enthalten können:
(1) Alle Figuren sind extrem flach und eindimensional. Das merkt man v.a. daran, dass Toby natürlich im Knast gewesen sein muss, da er sonst nicht ausreichend Ecken und Kanten gehabt hätte.
(2) Die Pace der Geschichte ist sehr sehr slow. Leider ist dieses Buch etwa 200 Seiten zu lang, irgendwann geht es nur noch um Erwachsene, die Dialoge wie Kinder führen. Zeitweise war ich wirklich absolut im rage mode.
(3) Dafür ist die Lovestory zwischen Anna und Toby viel zu rasch und überhaupt nicht nachvollziehbar dargestellt. Es hätte Potential gehabt, aber das war wirklich enttäuschend.
(4) Die Parallelen zwischen den Storylines von Louisa und Anna waren am Anfang echt schön dargestellt, irgendwann wurde alles einfach nur repetitiv, langweilig und ätzend.
(5) Es war mir viel zu viel Spiritualität, Hokus Pokus und Geisterkram. Wenn das gut dargestellt wird, kann ich mich da sonst eigentlich drauf einlassen, aber das war ja eine Lachnummer!
(6) Das Ende ist absoluter bullshit und unsatisfying deluxe!!!!!!!

[Donna Sokolowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy cow! It's never taken me more than a week to read a book....this one took almost two months. Admittedly, it's the first actual printed hardbound book I've read in a while and while the print was large enough, it did somewhat hamper enthusiasm for reading.....marking the spot, dealing with a heavy volume, thick paper pages to actually turn. Yuck! Give me my Kindle App any day.

So to this book....would I really call it that....hmmm....let me see.....NO!! I have to say, I've read some BE books before and they've entertained enough to while away the time. This one....this one, made me throw the book onto my bed pretty regularly. Common on folks.....wasn't anyone else just a teensy bit ticked at the two primary female characters....Louisa...Anna. OMG....I so kept wanting these women to develop a spine. Louisa sort off did eventually....ah....doesn't matter. I accept Victorian age etiquette prevented full-out punching, but I think a handy heavy object is absolutely acceptable. And in the modern age....come on...really? Ladies we got the vote a century ago and we're still reading this unadulterated pap where women are portrayed as big STUPIDS!! Count me out. If I could have, this one would have received zero stars....why don't they let you do that!!