Isobelle

by Mary Lide

A young Victorian Englishwoman, the sole survivor of a shipwreck off North Africa, discovers peril, passion, and drama in league with a Berber sheik

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical

288 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

Mary Lide is an historian and award-winning poet who received her M.A. from Oxford University.

Her first novel, Ann of Cambray, won the Romantic Times' New Historical Fiction Award.

For works of this author entered under other names, search also under: and Mary Lomer.

Reviews

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beatifully written love story that is impossible to put down.

[Misfit · Rating 3 out of 5]

En route to India in late 1870, Isobelle is the only survivor of a ship wreck off the coast of Africa. Working her way inland, she eventually *hooks up* with a caravan of raiders of the worst kind. She thinks they'll take her to safety and they plan on selling her to the highest bidder. Her one chance at escape takes her from the frying pan into the fire and she's now the property of the Lord of the High Tigran and he carries her off to his fortress in the high Atlas Mountains where he plans to make her his mistress. Will Isobelle be able to resist the Lord of the High Tigran and keep her virginity intact? Or will she succumb to his charms and submit?

Since this is a romance novel you can guess where the storyline heads from there, but there are some twists and turns in the path to happiness, from jealous women bent on killing Isobelle to treachery against Isobelle's Lord from the Sejilmi tribe that all ends in a harrowing journey through the Sahara desert. Will Isobelle have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her man? Can her Lord find her in time to save her from the fearsome Tuareg clan, the *blue men* of the desert? Or is it all just a dream........?

While it's not the greatest read out there and it did get a bit slow in the middle, it's a refreshing change of scenery. There is some sex in the book, although quite tame by today's standards. My only real complaint and why I knocked this down to three stars is the first person journal style narrative of the story. It's not a point of view I care for and in this case I felt a bit on the outside looking in. Out of print, but don't forget to check your library. A pleasant, easy read perfect for a rainy weekend indoors. 3/5 stars.

[Karen Linder · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most romantic stories I've had the pleasure to read.

[lynnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago and besides the basic plot of a young girl in the 1800s shipwrecked on a North African coast and sold to an enigmatic lord''s harem , I can only remember that it gave me the feels !!!

[Adri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Courage, strength of a woman in the face of adversity.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 3 out of 5]

May actually be better. Been awhile. No clear memory. But kept my copy.

[Hayzbaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book back in about 2000 and I remember it as a really old scrappy falling apart novel with the title - Diary of Isabelle. It was a second hand copy and it somehow went back to the second hand shop. I was devastated when I realised I no longer had it and I have been trying to track down a copy ever since. Today thanks to the magic of google (as I couldn't remember the author) and someone making a comment via another site about it being the best book they have read - I found it again! well the title and author anyway. Now to track down a copy. Ecstatic :)