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The Lamp in the Desert
Ethel May Dell (1881-1939) was a British writer of popular romance novels who produced about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Her stories are often full of passion and love and are set in India and other British colonial possessions. She worked on her first novel, The Way of an Eagle, for several years, until it was finally published in 1911. The public loved it and the book was hugely popular. Her other works include the bestselling Greatheart (1912), The Bars of Iron (1916) and Hundredth Chance (1917). When published in 1912, Greatheart proved enormously popular and its popularity grew over the following years. According to the New York Times it was the bestselling novel in the United States in 1918.
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2009
About the author
Ethel M. Dell
149 books15 followersEthel M. Dell (2 August 1881 – 19 September 1939) was a British writer of over 30 popular romance novels and several short stories from 1911 to 1939.
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
Ethel May Dell was born on 2 August 1881 in Streatham, a suburb of London, England. Her father was a clerk in the City of London and she had an older sister and brother. Her family was middle class and lived a comfortable life. Ethel Dell was a very shy, quiet girl and was content to be dominated by her family. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions. They were considered to be very racy and her cousins would pull out pencils to try and count up the number of times she used the words: passion, tremble, pant and thrill. Pictures of her are very rare and she was never interviewed by the press.
Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.
Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.
While readers adored Ethel M. Dell's novels, critics hated them with a passion; but she did not care what the critics thought. She considered herself a good storyteller – nothing more and nothing less. Ethel M. Dell continued to write novels for a number of years. She made quite a lot of money, from £20,000 to £30,000 a year, but remained quiet and almost pathologically shy.
In 1922, Ethel Dell married a soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Gerald Tahourdin Savage, when she was forty years old, and the marriage was happy. Colonel Savage resigned his commission on his marriage and Ethel Dell became the support of the family. Her husband devoted himself to her and fiercely guarded her privacy. For her part she went on writing, eventually producing about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Ethel's married name is recorded as Ethel Mary Savage.
Ethel M. Dell died of cancer on 19 September 1939, at 58.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 4, 2013
Is this a good book? No way. Is it entertaining? A big resounding yes.
I confess to actually liking the unfortunate Hero of Lamp more than almost any other of Dell's stiff-upper-lip British upperclass heroes – in fact I prefer him to the rather crazed Heroine of this opus. It helps that this Hero has neither raped nor murdered anyone, unlike some of Dell's other heroes – in fact, when Heroine accuses him of murder of her previous husband (despite his swearing he did not) and indicates her repulsion to being hugged by him, he *gasp* leaves the room without raping or even molestation, motivated by the clearly bizarre belief that if she does not want him there, he should actually honor her wishes. Perhaps appalled by such unmanly course of action, he then proceeds to go to his room and attempt to commit suicide. Poor thing.
I do have to say, Hero seems to have a positive passion for self-harm – he was on his second suicide attempt by 2/3 through the book. I guess that goes with the territory when you have a martyr complex the size of Sweden and positively wallow in misery. I bet he practices gnashing his teeth in secret.
OK, backtracking before everyone gets lost:
Let me explain – the story goes something like this. Heroine marries Cad even though she does not love him, because she is ostracized by Anglo Indian society and that will get her an entrée. The night before her wedding, Heroine realizes Hero loves her and that she loves Hero, but being the stiff-upper-lip British sort that they are, Heroine carries on with the wedding and goes off on her honeymoon.
Hero finds out Cad actually has a wife living in England who is coming to find Cad – thus Cad is a bigamist and his adored Heroine has been living in sin. The HORRORS. He pretends to go back to England but in reality dresses as a repulsive beggar, as one does, and visits Cad and Heroine’s honeymoon cottage. He proceeds to get Cad alone, inform him of the state of things and Hero’s knowledge of said state of things, and pressure Cad to disappear. He will take it on himself to make everyone believe Cad is dead. That way Heroine will be an honorable widow who will never find out about bigamy as Cad’s wife will cease to have any interest in tracking him down as she will also believe Cad is dead. Cad is fine with it because he already got what he wanted out of this marriage anyway – he got to boink Heroine – honestly, most of the travails of the characters of Lamp would be nonexistent if they lived in more sexually permissible times – in that case Heroine and Cad would just boink and she’d emerge with some experience (and possibly a case of herpes) and be free to marry Hero.
I don’t particularly blame Hero for his action because Heroine is a neurotic Flower of Pure British Womanhood and would probably jump off a cliff if she found out about her disgrace, not to mention Hero knows Heroine does not love Cad. But of course THIS LEADS TO TRAGEDY.
Heroine does indeed become a widow (or so she thinks) and marries Hero, with whom she is blissfully happy. Until one day Hero finds out that Cad’s wife died a few days before Cad and Heroine were married thus their wedding was legal and thus Hero and Heroine have been living in SIN!!! Did I mention that at that point Heroine is 7 months pregnant? Or that Hero’s career has just became toast because his fellow officers began to suspect he killed Cad (he did have that suspicious absence just when Cad bought it after all).
AHHHH HERO, YOUR ANGST - HOW I SLURP IT UP.
The baby is born prematurely and is destined for an early grave (another Dell specialty) and Heroine also gets very ill. And then she finds out about the rumors about Hero and decides she believes them, once she finds out repulsive beggar = Hero. Actually, she gets quite insane and won’t ask any explanations, nor does she have any doubts – she is certain Hero offed Cad and declares she knows this for certain (his oaths notwithstanding), she still loves Hero but never wants to see him, go die in a fire, woe woe woe. Why she seems to have no doubts on the state of guilt of a man she supposedly loves madly or even feel the need for a few questions is beyond me.
Not that it would help matters if she did because Hero decides to positively REVEL in his martyrdom and would never explain the truth. Pssssst, Hero – do you really think it’s better for your wife to believe she married a murderer than to find out she’s been cohabiting without marriage? You’ve got to be kidding me! (Then again, seeing how nutty she is, maybe he is right – she might be driven mad by SHAME and die, like the pure creature she is.)
Did I mention that I am certain that Heroine’s younger brother bears a LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME for the Hero? And that the Hero is crossdressing as an Indian nanny so he can take care of Heroine and their dying child? Ahhh, this book!
So now the sickly illegitimate baby is dying (because it is CURSED by the wrong nature of its conception I bet), Hero is going gray and martyring himself in more passive ways once his suicide attempt has been thwarted, Heroine seems to care more about romantic drama than dying baby (which oddly makes sense – infant mortality rate was very high back then and I always through parents back then must have built pretty huge psychic shields to be able to deal with something that was more likely to occur than not). And that is where I leave you to discover the rest of the pleasures of this book for yourselves.
Well, I lied...I leave you with this quote:
"Everard!" The weak voice thrilled like a loosened harp-string, and the man's dark face flashed into sudden passionate tenderness.
He went down upon his knees beside the bed and gathered her to his breast. She clung to him feebly, her lips turned to his.
"My darling—oh, my darling—have you come at last?" she whispered. "Hold me—hold me!—Don't let me die!"
He held her closer and closer to his heart, so that its fierce throbbing beat against her own. "You shan't die," he said, "you can't die—with me here."
She laughed a little, sobbingly. "You saved Tommy—twice over. I knew you would save me—if you came in time. Oh, darling, how I have wanted you! It's been—so dark and terrible."
"But you held on!" Monck's voice was very low; it came with a manifest effort. He was holding her to his breast as if he could never let her go.
"Yes, I held on. I knew—I knew—how—how it would hurt you—to find me gone." Her trembling hands moved fondly about his head and finally clasped his neck. "It's all right now," she said, with a sigh of deep content.
Monck's lips pressed hers again and again, and Mrs. Ralston went away to the window to hide her tears. "Please, God, don't separate them now!" she whispered.
Ahhh, I wallow in your emo, Ms. Dell!
I confess to actually liking the unfortunate Hero of Lamp more than almost any other of Dell's stiff-upper-lip British upperclass heroes – in fact I prefer him to the rather crazed Heroine of this opus. It helps that this Hero has neither raped nor murdered anyone, unlike some of Dell's other heroes – in fact, when Heroine accuses him of murder of her previous husband (despite his swearing he did not) and indicates her repulsion to being hugged by him, he *gasp* leaves the room without raping or even molestation, motivated by the clearly bizarre belief that if she does not want him there, he should actually honor her wishes. Perhaps appalled by such unmanly course of action, he then proceeds to go to his room and attempt to commit suicide. Poor thing.
I do have to say, Hero seems to have a positive passion for self-harm – he was on his second suicide attempt by 2/3 through the book. I guess that goes with the territory when you have a martyr complex the size of Sweden and positively wallow in misery. I bet he practices gnashing his teeth in secret.
OK, backtracking before everyone gets lost:
Let me explain – the story goes something like this. Heroine marries Cad even though she does not love him, because she is ostracized by Anglo Indian society and that will get her an entrée. The night before her wedding, Heroine realizes Hero loves her and that she loves Hero, but being the stiff-upper-lip British sort that they are, Heroine carries on with the wedding and goes off on her honeymoon.
Hero finds out Cad actually has a wife living in England who is coming to find Cad – thus Cad is a bigamist and his adored Heroine has been living in sin. The HORRORS. He pretends to go back to England but in reality dresses as a repulsive beggar, as one does, and visits Cad and Heroine’s honeymoon cottage. He proceeds to get Cad alone, inform him of the state of things and Hero’s knowledge of said state of things, and pressure Cad to disappear. He will take it on himself to make everyone believe Cad is dead. That way Heroine will be an honorable widow who will never find out about bigamy as Cad’s wife will cease to have any interest in tracking him down as she will also believe Cad is dead. Cad is fine with it because he already got what he wanted out of this marriage anyway – he got to boink Heroine – honestly, most of the travails of the characters of Lamp would be nonexistent if they lived in more sexually permissible times – in that case Heroine and Cad would just boink and she’d emerge with some experience (and possibly a case of herpes) and be free to marry Hero.
I don’t particularly blame Hero for his action because Heroine is a neurotic Flower of Pure British Womanhood and would probably jump off a cliff if she found out about her disgrace, not to mention Hero knows Heroine does not love Cad. But of course THIS LEADS TO TRAGEDY.
Heroine does indeed become a widow (or so she thinks) and marries Hero, with whom she is blissfully happy. Until one day Hero finds out that Cad’s wife died a few days before Cad and Heroine were married thus their wedding was legal and thus Hero and Heroine have been living in SIN!!! Did I mention that at that point Heroine is 7 months pregnant? Or that Hero’s career has just became toast because his fellow officers began to suspect he killed Cad (he did have that suspicious absence just when Cad bought it after all).
AHHHH HERO, YOUR ANGST - HOW I SLURP IT UP.
The baby is born prematurely and is destined for an early grave (another Dell specialty) and Heroine also gets very ill. And then she finds out about the rumors about Hero and decides she believes them, once she finds out repulsive beggar = Hero. Actually, she gets quite insane and won’t ask any explanations, nor does she have any doubts – she is certain Hero offed Cad and declares she knows this for certain (his oaths notwithstanding), she still loves Hero but never wants to see him, go die in a fire, woe woe woe. Why she seems to have no doubts on the state of guilt of a man she supposedly loves madly or even feel the need for a few questions is beyond me.
Not that it would help matters if she did because Hero decides to positively REVEL in his martyrdom and would never explain the truth. Pssssst, Hero – do you really think it’s better for your wife to believe she married a murderer than to find out she’s been cohabiting without marriage? You’ve got to be kidding me! (Then again, seeing how nutty she is, maybe he is right – she might be driven mad by SHAME and die, like the pure creature she is.)
Did I mention that I am certain that Heroine’s younger brother bears a LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME for the Hero? And that the Hero is crossdressing as an Indian nanny so he can take care of Heroine and their dying child? Ahhh, this book!
So now the sickly illegitimate baby is dying (because it is CURSED by the wrong nature of its conception I bet), Hero is going gray and martyring himself in more passive ways once his suicide attempt has been thwarted, Heroine seems to care more about romantic drama than dying baby (which oddly makes sense – infant mortality rate was very high back then and I always through parents back then must have built pretty huge psychic shields to be able to deal with something that was more likely to occur than not). And that is where I leave you to discover the rest of the pleasures of this book for yourselves.
Well, I lied...I leave you with this quote:
"Everard!" The weak voice thrilled like a loosened harp-string, and the man's dark face flashed into sudden passionate tenderness.
He went down upon his knees beside the bed and gathered her to his breast. She clung to him feebly, her lips turned to his.
"My darling—oh, my darling—have you come at last?" she whispered. "Hold me—hold me!—Don't let me die!"
He held her closer and closer to his heart, so that its fierce throbbing beat against her own. "You shan't die," he said, "you can't die—with me here."
She laughed a little, sobbingly. "You saved Tommy—twice over. I knew you would save me—if you came in time. Oh, darling, how I have wanted you! It's been—so dark and terrible."
"But you held on!" Monck's voice was very low; it came with a manifest effort. He was holding her to his breast as if he could never let her go.
"Yes, I held on. I knew—I knew—how—how it would hurt you—to find me gone." Her trembling hands moved fondly about his head and finally clasped his neck. "It's all right now," she said, with a sigh of deep content.
Monck's lips pressed hers again and again, and Mrs. Ralston went away to the window to hide her tears. "Please, God, don't separate them now!" she whispered.
Ahhh, I wallow in your emo, Ms. Dell!
June 21, 2019
This isn't really a review. Just a few thoughts from it.
Despite taking 9 months to finish this book it was wonderful! I wish I hadn't spread it out such a ridiculous time, what stress and being busy will do sometimes. It wasn't the books fault I didn't finish sooner. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish, and I really appreciate how Ethel M. Dell ended the story. I feel satisfied, and look forward to my next book by her.
Despite taking 9 months to finish this book it was wonderful! I wish I hadn't spread it out such a ridiculous time, what stress and being busy will do sometimes. It wasn't the books fault I didn't finish sooner. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish, and I really appreciate how Ethel M. Dell ended the story. I feel satisfied, and look forward to my next book by her.
November 30, 2019
Quaint, entertaining, and a bit predictable
I enjoyed the book. But think it was a predictable period piece. The characters were very consistent and one dimensional, but if you like and are in the mood for a toned-down cross between Kipling and Austin, it will help you pass the time for a day or two and leave you with fond remembrances of a group of predictable, quaint, honorable, very 19th century acquaintances. If it had a bit more intrigue and action, I would have given it 5 stars.
I enjoyed the book. But think it was a predictable period piece. The characters were very consistent and one dimensional, but if you like and are in the mood for a toned-down cross between Kipling and Austin, it will help you pass the time for a day or two and leave you with fond remembrances of a group of predictable, quaint, honorable, very 19th century acquaintances. If it had a bit more intrigue and action, I would have given it 5 stars.
March 3, 2025
A classic
This book brought me into the heart of India with its seething hot winds and sounds and stricken deserts. It also brought me into the heart of a lonely girl trapped there.
This book brought me into the heart of India with its seething hot winds and sounds and stricken deserts. It also brought me into the heart of a lonely girl trapped there.
April 23, 2019
It was ok
When I got the book, I thought I had read it before. I was wrong. I felt the book was a little bland.
When I got the book, I thought I had read it before. I was wrong. I felt the book was a little bland.
March 10, 2010
This book was published in the early 20th Century. It was passed down to me from my grandma. She and my great great Aunt read it - which I think is pretty neat. It's a story about passion, patience and love. The author is very eloquent. It's written in lovely English from back in the day. If you love a good romance but without all the gory details (I think it would have been illegal in those days!) than this is the book for you. Check it out.
September 26, 2012
I love this author. Can't get enough. Her writing style is very unique and I live the dramatic suspense in this wonderful love story.
January 26, 2016
4* Ethel M. Dell writes a heartbreaking story of love set in India a hundred years ago. This book is interesting and written in the classic style of an old-fashioned inspirational love story.
February 26, 2013
Ethel at her best!
November 24, 2014
I absolutely loved this novel. Adventurous, romantic, an epic that I would think would have been made into a movie in the 1930s - lots of twists and turns. Beautifully written.
October 9, 2016
A good read. Pace is bit lack luster. But story of woman is described very well.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews