The author evidently researched the subject and is knowledgeable about that time period and the area. The heroine, Lorna Winters, is very annoying. Whenever something happened and she was asked to do something, she refused, claiming to be a "strong independent woman." Her "independence" boiled down to wanting to go shopping for clothes because she wanted to choose them herself, refusing to wear a veil when being in a desert around people who all did, even men, and refusing to evacuate from a besieged city because she wanted to go pick up her trunk with souvenirs which nearly killed her and Nathan. She is also very entitled. When Chedlya explained to her why she couldn't keep her and how it would endager Chedlya's life, she threw a tantrum. When Chedlya arranged it the way Lorna liked it, Lorna again threw a tantrum, because it was all arranged for her and she was a strong independent woman.