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The English Girl

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What to expect

Joan Seabrook, a fledgling archaeologist, has fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Arabia by travelling from England to the ancient city of Muscat with her fiancé, Rory. Desperate to escape the pain of a personal tragedy, she longs to explore the desert fort of Jabrin, and unearth the treasures it is said to conceal.

But Oman is a land lost in time - hard, secretive, and in the midst of a violent upheaval - and gaining permission to explore Jabrin could prove impossible. Joan's disappointment is only alleviated by the thrill of meeting her childhood heroine, pioneering explorer Maude Vickery, and hearing first-hand the stories that captured her imagination and fuelled her ambition as a child.

Joan's encounter with the extraordinary and reclusive Maude will change everything. Both women have things that they want, and secrets they must keep. As their friendship grows, Joan is seduced by Maude's stories, and the thrill of the adventure they hold, and only too late does she begin to question her actions - actions that will spark a wild, and potentially disastrous, chain of events.

Will the girl that left England for this beautiful but dangerous land ever find her way back?

(p) 2016 Orion Publishing Group

Critics Review

I loved THE ENGLISH GIRL. I was really drawn to both Maude and Joan and was completely absorbed by their exotic adventures. I thought it was a really original working of a dual narrative historical story and felt as authentically and thoroughly researched as The Night Falling. I've loved all Katherine Webb's books and this is a wonderful addition to my collection. After I finished, I found myself miss the searing heat and huge blue skies of the Omani desert.
Kate Riordan
A vivid tale of adventure, love and friendship set in '50s Arabia.
HEAT MAGAZINE
A compelling and beautifully written tale of adventure, mystery and love, The English Girl enthralled me from the first page. Set against the exotic backdrop of Arabia, which is both unforgiving and romantic, Webb brings her world to life with skill and passion.
Santa Montefiore
Katherine's writing is rich, vivid and evocative and her characters breathtakingly real
Iona Grey
With memorable characters and wonderful detail, Katherine evokes a little-known episode of British history to give a fascinating perspective on a region so much in the news today. Her depiction of the desert kingdom captures all its beauty and danger.
Vanessa Lafaye
You know with a book by Katherine Webb that the writing will be impeccable and The English Girl is no different. This story of two women half-a-century apart both running away from the narrow margins of their lives is utterly captivating. The desert setting is as bewitching for the reader as it is for the characters, its arid emptiness and its unfamiliarity are vividly wrought with echoes of The Sheltering Sky. Webb's story surprises, too with unexpected twists and kept me gripped to the final page.
Elizabeth Fremantle
An exotic and absorbing adventure.
WOMAN AND HOME
... a smattering of romance, and plenty of swashbuckling adventure.
Sunday Mirror
Webb is atmospheric on the pull of the desert, and Joan and Maude are heroines worth following into the hot, wild Arabian horizon.
THE TIMES
Author Katherine Webb
Narrator Anna Bentinck
Duration 16 hours and 40 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781409160564
Format Audiobook
Publisher Orion
Genre Historical crime and mysteries, Modern and contemporary fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

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