Nile Dusk

by Pamela Kent (Pseudonym), Ida Pollock

Romilly was pleased, but certainly not alarmed, when her great-aunt left her a house in Cairo. Why should Crighton Bey warn her to be careful of her possessions? Romilly soon found herself thinking of him more than was good for her — but was he really interested in her — or only in what she had inherited?

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Egypt

154 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1972

About the author

One of many pseudonyms used by Ida Julia Pollock, née Crowe.

Mrs. Pollack was a British writer of several short-stories and 125 romance novels that were published under her married name and under a number of different pseudonyms: Joan M. Allen; Susan Barrie, Pamela Kent, Averil Ives, Anita Charles, Barbara Rowan, Jane Beaufort, Rose Burghley, Mary Whistler and Marguerite Bell. She has sold millions of copies over her 90-year career. She has been referred to as the "world's oldest novelist" who was still active at 105 and continued writing until her death.

Ida and her husband, Lt Colonel Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (1888–1971), a veteran of war and Winston Churchill's collaborator and editor, had a daughter, Rosemary Pollock, who is also a romance writer.

Reviews

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally expect much from Ida Crowe novels, no matter the pseudonym, but I must say that this is the second Pamela Kent book where I am surprised at some of the wackiness.

For example, the book begins with the heroine admiring the ancient mystery of the Sphinx, which is pretty standard stuff, right? WRONG. This particular h imagines the Sphinx making fun of her appearance and telling her she could stand to gain a few pounds, because she's got nothing on the Egyptian babes back in the Sphinx's day. To her credit, the h kinds of shrugs off the Sphinx's insults, until she realizes she is being listened to by a mysterious, handsome man, who reminds her of the Sphinx.

Like the Sphinx, this H is a piece of work, and he proceeds to behave quite oddly. The h, who despite her tendency to get snarked at by ancient wonders, is actually not a very deep thinker, and she is almost entirely oblivious to the H's motivations, which makes this a pretty-angst free book. The H is clearly highly eccentric but in a jovial way, and something tells me the h will almost always sail blithely along, never entirely understanding why the H is doing something bizarre, but trusting that he has her best interest at heart, which he does.

So, I wouldn't describe this as a highly romantic book, but it it definitely has its nutty charms.

[Caz · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Tell me just why you don't feel you can trust me," asks the creepy hero of the heroine ... after he has (1) followed her to the Sphinx, (2) broken into her residence at 3 in the morning, (3) refused on at least 2 occasions to identify himself until the OW does it for him, (4) conned her into coming to his country estate by forging an invitation in the OW's name and then refusing point-blank to take her back to the city when the deception is uncovered, and (5) already lifted a valuable statue from her residence without her knowledge or consent. Not exactly trust-inspiring actions to anyone except a painfully naive, unintelligent and tremulous doormat who starts off the book with a bizarre verbal argument - with the Sphinx - about her appearance. She's so insipid that she's fully willing to GIVE the valuable statue to the OW even after the latter has physically threatened her ... to which the hero responds that he won't bring charges against the OW! At the end the hero tells the MFC she's stupid for not having seen any (non-existent) signs of his romantic interest. It's a rather odd story, and I didn't care for any of the main characters.