The Shape of Sand
Marjorie Eccles
Dunne, Dec 2005, $23.95, 288 pp.
ISBN: 0312352328

In 1946, renovations to Charnley uncover a hidden shoebox filled with papers, including the 1910 journal of Beatrice Jardine, who suddenly vanished following her forty-fourth birthday celebration, attended by her beloved four children (Marcus, Harriet, Vita and Daisy) and close friends, including her fianc Kit, and her friend from Egypt Valery Iskander. The mystery of what happened to her was never solved, so her oldest daughter Harriet reads the cache to see if any clues can be found. She learns that her mom lived the privileged life of the elite, but Harriet already knew that.

Harriet concludes that something happened in Egypt eleven years before her disappearance, when her mom visited the North African Protectorate. She persuades her siblings to journey to Egypt seeking clues, but instead the construction crew uncover the mummified remains of a female, bringing law enforcement into the investigation and forcing Harriet to the sidelines, though she stealthily continues to dig.

Though Marjorie Eccles holds the Mayo, THE SHAPE OF SAND is a fabulous historical mystery that rotates two distinct eras, the end of the Edwardian and the end of World War II, in a smooth manner. Findings in 1946 lead to a trip back to 1910. Harriet is a courageous person with a need to know what really happened and why, to her beloved mother. Her sisters join her quest once the trio read the documents. Fans will cherish this fine tale that uses a mystery to showcase a bygone upper crust life, partially shattered a few years later by WWI, and completely buried by WW II.

Harriet Klausner