Beautiful settings are wonderfully described. You can almost step into them. The architecture, plants, food, interiors and landscapes are all lovingly shown. The colours, smells and sounds of both Clem's mountain retreat and the city of Marrakech take root in your own imagination. The only reasons you may not be tempted to travel to Morocco immediately are because the story takes place fifty years ago and because there is a constant threat of attack upon young Vicky and everyone she knows. The sense of danger retreats at times and at others feels immediate and close - it never completely dissolves.
Both the main characters, Clem and her granddaughter Vicky, were prone to making life-changing snap decisions, taking the reader by surprise. A family trait, perhaps. I did feel a lack of understanding of the middle generation of characters but I know that's due to not having read the earlier novels in the trilogy. So I advise other readers to "begin at the beginning, a very good place to start"!
Both the main characters, Clem and her granddaughter Vicky, were prone to making life-changing snap decisions, taking the reader by surprise. A family trait, perhaps. I did feel a lack of understanding of the middle generation of characters but I know that's due to not having read the earlier novels in the trilogy. So I advise other readers to "begin at the beginning, a very good place to start"!