Having been intrigued by Stewart's The Unsuitable Englishman, and being interested in this period in Egypt - especially after reading Wilfrid Scawen Blunt's utterly amazing Secret History of the English Occupation of Egypt, and Ahdaf Soueif's very respectable novel The Map of Love, which actually put me on to Blunt, I bought these basically forgotten novels by Stewart. This first volume opened under the North African sun and had me tingling with anticipation but I'm afraid I have to admit that my enthusiasm fizzled out over the next 250 pages. A bit too much of a domestic book for my liking. Too much of an Egyptian Jane Austen, if I may be so bold to say so! Sorry Desmond. ( )