Solitaire et fougueux, Jaime Miró défie depuis des années police et armée, à la tête du mouvement séparatiste basque. Adulé par une foule de plus en plus nombreuse, il est pour les autorités l'homme à abattre. Traqué près du couvent d'Avila, Miró prend quatre nonnes en otage. Brutalement projetées dans un climat de fureur et de violence, les quatre femmes retrouvent un monde qu'elles avaient décidé d'oublier. Il y a là Lucia, la belle Sicilienne recherchée pour meurtre, la douce Graciela, tourmentée par les démons de la chair, Megan, la riche héritière, abandonnée au berceau, Teresa, la sainte du couvent. Une longue traque s'engage où hommes et femmes trouveront leur voie... parfois fort loin du paisible couvent d'Avila ( )

One of the best from Sidney Sheldon. It's a historical fiction piece, told by four nuns in a convent that is in Basque country that inadvertingly get caught up with a revolutionary freedom fighter nationalist named Jaime Miro.

Megan is the American orphan that hasn't discovered her true origins.
Lucia is the Italian femme fatale, a daughter of a slain mafioso chief who is on the run for killing the man responsible for his death.
Teresa, a die hard nun driven to the convent due to her own insecurities of her beauty and a betrayal from her sister.
Graciela, another die hard nun that embraces the convent because she was abused by her mother for being more beautiful than her, and eventually sleeping with one of her mother's men.
Rubio, Jaime's right hand man that falls madly in love for Lucia.
Acoca, a die hard military nutjob that gets his rocks off torturing any and everybody trying to find Jaime.

It's a twist and turn tale that never runs out of steam.

( )

No one really ever wrote a more entertaining romantic potboiler than Sidney Sheldon, and The Sands of Time is one of his best. It has loads of color and atmosphere, and characters you root for. Each divergent story-line is as interesting as the last, Sheldon's tremendous gift for storytelling on grand display here.

You won't forget nuns -- though not all are actually nuns -- Lucia, Teresa, Graciela or Megan, nor will you forget the wonderfully colorful portrait of Spain and its conflicts of the period when this was written. Like a lot of Sheldon's work, it is soapy but not so much so that we lose interest. In fact, that's actually part of its charm.

Anyone who remembers watching The Other Side of Midnight, then grabbing a copy of the book, knows how much fun it can be to read the master of melodrama. Sheldon's never going to make anyone forget Remarque's Three Comrades, but for sheer entertainment, you can't beat The Sands of Time. If you've got a few days at the beach, you won't be sorry you took this with you. ( )

"The Sands of Time" by Sidney Sheldon delivers an action-packed, original story. The plot was well written and the characters were interesting. The story involves the lives of four cloistered nuns who are forced to flee their Spanish convent. For the most part, Megan, Lucia, Graciela and Teresa have come to appreciate their secure and predictable surroundings in the convent. Some of them have not stepped into the "real" world in 30 years. Each has their own background and story to tell. Who should they trust, Jaime Miro the head of the outlawed Basque underground movement, or Colonel Ramon Acoca, the commander of the Spanish army?
This novel was definitely a page-turner. The only reason for 4 starts instead of 5, was due to the graphic violence. Would I recommend this novel? Definitely! ( )

50-2