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Reviews for JASMINE NIGHTS
'Exotic, decadent, dangerous and terrific storytelling.'
(Fanny Blake, WOMAN & HOME)
"A tenderly told and wonderfully evocative story"
(Daily Express)
"A captivating love story set in an extraordinary world"
(Western Mail)
"For a history lesson on WWII, watch Ken Burns' The War. For romance and intrigue, with the conflict providing the perfect excuse to set a story in exotic locales like Cairo, Gregson (East of the Sun, 2009) delivers in spades… Credit is due Gregson…for crafting a story about a much-chronicled war that feels thoroughly original.
(Booklist)
"This steamy, sweeping historical draws readers into the seductive world of WWII Egypt…Gregson's latest (after Band of Angels) displays the author's command of wartime fiction. Saba is a modern woman struggling with old-fashioned ideas and Dom is a surprisingly complex hero. Seen through their eyes, the wartime Middle East is a heady, intoxicating place and readers will be swept away by the lush prose."
(Publishers Weekly)
"A wonderful romance and adventure story about two passionate young people determined to live life to the fullest, knowing they may not live to see tomorrow… The contrast of the glamorous, exotic setting with the gritty reality of life in a war zone was compelling and made for a great read. Not to be missed."
(Historical Novel Society)
"Steamy, sweeping... Saba is a modern woman struggling with old-fashioned ideas and Dom is a surprisingly complex hero. Seen through their eyes, the wartime Middle East is a heady, intoxicating place and readers will be swept away by the lush prose.
(Publisher's Weekly (US))
"For romance and intrigue, with the conflict providing the perfect excuse to set a story in exotic locales like Cairo, Gregson delivers in spades... believable and completely engrossing"
(Booklist (US))
"Romance may be the theme, but Gregson shines in her descriptions of the life of the rich, poor and combatant in Cairo and Alexandria, the sights of Giza and the Bosphorus, and the chaotic World War II milieu where women no longer tolerated 'boys making all the rules.' Saba and Dom love, face perils, triumph and intermittently reunite. Spare of any serious, distracting anachronisms, the story flows at a stately pace to a conclusion both satisfying and open-ended. Fans will want a sequel. Historical fiction as personal journeys through love and loss and war's havoc."
(Kirkus Reviews (US))
"Julia Gregson's Jasmine Nights has all the makings of the perfect beach read: adventure, danger, international locale, historical sweep, steamy romance... utterly delicious"
(Cleveland Plain Dealer (US))
"I love war novels set in the Middle Eastern theatre of war and this one does not disappoint, with its terrific descriptions of the seedy glamour of Cairo and Alexandria, not to mention Instanbul."
(Good Book Guide)
"Gregson, the author of East of the Sun, brings a wealth of detail to this unconventional love story, ranging from World War II history to rich cultural lore to the pop-music standards of the era. With numerous and well-drawn characters, evocative prose and a commanding story, the former journalist and foreign correspondent again proves that she is also a master of historical fiction. And smoke might not be the only thing that gets in your eyes in this moving novel.