Sea and the Sand

Nicole takes intriguing elementshigh-sea battles, a harem in exotic Tripoli, a star-crossed romanceand blends them into an exciting story set in the early decades of the 1800s. U.S. naval officer Toby McGann falls deeply in love with a charming young Englishwoman, Felicity Crown, when she is only 15. Felicity's affection is equally strong, but before the two can meet again Barbary pirates intercept the ship on which Felicity is sailing to Gibraltar. Mohammed ben Idris, an influential but sadistic native of Tripoli, buys Felicity for his concubine. When Toby and his fellow officers arrive in Tripoli to vanquish the pirates who are menacing American vessels, he daringly rescues Felicity while a fierce skirmish rages. Later, however, when the lovers are married and living in a New York suburb, the vengeful Idris again enters their lives. While some of the plot developments are highly improbable, the tale is action-filled and unpredictable. Particularly interesting are Toby's experiences in the War of 1812, and the author's depiction of rigid Western morality, which decreed that a lady would be irrevocably tainted unless chaste prior to matrimony and sexually passive afterwards. (February)