1884. Queen Victoria's hero General Gordon is under siege. Hoards of Dervish warriors, loyal to the Mahdi, the Sudanese warlord and Messiah, are baying for British blood. With a small army and diminishing supplies, Gordon fears Khartoum will fall. Ex-captain and one-time subaltern Simon Fonthill is summoned to Cairo on a vital mission. He must enter the heavily guarded city undetected and make contact with Gordon ahead of the relief force. Together with comrade...
In Venice, Frances Croy is working to leave the previous year behind: another novel published to little success, a scathing review she can't quite manage to forget, and, most of all, the real reason behind her self-imposed exile from London: the incident at the Savoy. Sequestered within an aging palazzo, Frankie finds comfort in the emptiness of Venice in winter, in the absence of others. And then Gilly appears.
.jpg)
.jpg)
