I really enjoyed this book that we had for book group. It was quite lengthy and I know some of the others found that all the desert descriptions were a bit long but I loved them. It was so romantic and otherworldly and jsut something that I would love to do myself. I felt that the two girls were representative of the two sides of my character - the practical, sensible one who didn't take risks, and the one who followed her heart and threw caution to the wind and just DID without thinking. The deep dark eyes of the strangers were very alluring too. Really enjoyed it, will try and track down more of hers to read. ( )

A beautiful gentle story that takes the reader through a journey of discovery and love for a very misunderstood country...thoroughly enjoyed this book very uplifting.... ( )

a delightful jaunt through Mali. Emily Kingsley and her cousin, Clemmie, are given the task of taking their Great Aunt Mary's ashes to Mali, to be scattered in a particular part of the dessert that's inhabited only by the nomadic tribes of the Tuareg. Why Mali of all places? When did Great Aunt Mary ever go to Africa? She'd never given anyone any hint that she'd been outside England in her life. Why does Emily think her companion, Ms Timmis, knows something but is holding back from them? Emily doesn't even want to go to Africa but Clemmie's enthusiasm is catching ... plus she just won't take no. So off they go, and their journey turns into one of discovery. Discovery of not just the secrets held by their Great Aunt Mary, but a discovery of themselves. ( )

Emily and her cousin Clemmie are charged with taking their great aunt Mary's ashes to be scattered in the Sahara Desert. Emily is reticent about the trip because of a recent heartache and because she is quite sensible and can't see the point. Clemmie, on the other hand, is more romantic and spontaneous, and talks Emily into making the trip. The majority of this book is taken up with the descriptions of their journey across Mali, meeting with the Tuareg people and the eventual reveal of the reason why their great aunt wanted to be scattered in a place they didn't even know she had visited.

I think the premise for this story is excellent, but unfortunately I did find the writing lacked depth, and because the story is told mainly in alternate first person chapters by Emily and Clemmie, it read a bit like a travel memoir and not like a work of fiction. I also didn't think it rang true that the girls would make such an epic trip for a relative that they weren't really all that close to.

I enjoyed the gradual unfolding of the mystery of why Mary wanted to end up back in Africa, although it did take a long time to get there. This was helped along by the chapters told by her long-time friend, Beryl Timmis.

I've still rated this book quite highly as I did enjoy the read overall, and thought the writer had done a terrific amount of research into the place and the people so that she could make it an authentic read. I did feel it was a little over-long, but ultimately enjoyable. ( )

Camelback Journey To Mali

Clemmie and Emily, to young cousins in England are as different as night and day. While attending their great aunt Mary’s funeral, Aunt Mary’s lawyer informs them that Aunt Mary had a dying wish for them that must be attended to. In Aunt Mary’s will, her last dying wish was to be cremated, and that her remains were to be carried to North Africa, her ashes were to be sprinkled over the sands of Mali in the Sahara desert.

With all family members totally bewildered why Aunt Mary would request such nonsense, as no one had ever heard her mention traveling to Africa, Clemmie and Emily are told by the lawyer that it is they that Aunt Mary wanted for this adventurous task. Emily, a rather conservative and caustic school teacher thinks that the idea of embarking on such a risky endeavor is a crazy foolish waste of time, but Clemmie, the fanciful head-full-of-dreams blond bombshell convinces Emily it will be the journey of a lifetime and just what they both need to spice up their lives.

What ensues is a sweet and often hilarious trip to the Saharan desert, filled with new friends, new hopes, mystery, madness, and a love for all time as one of the girls finally finds her soul mate. Spiritual awakenings and new loves spring upon Clemmie and Emily as eye-opening experiences, foreign cultures, and the mystery of Aunt Mary’s mysterious and scandalous past unfolds as they sway atop the backs of camels in rhythm to the music of the dunes.

Mile after mile, through lands of scrubby wasteland and swirling sand, Emily and Clemmie travel from the famed Timbuktu to the outreaches of Mali meeting many desert tribes including the renowned blue people, the proud and charismatic Tuareg. Assisting the girls as servants and travel guides, the Tuareg believe whole heartedly that the girl’s mission is a true one to be followed, and the love and kindness Clemmie and Emily receive along the way is endearing, heartwarming and renews one’s faith that embracing other lands and people is still worth being opened minded about.

This delightful fictional travel adventure will have readers smiling, laughing and watching two young women mend broken hearts, do serious soul-searching, and bond as family as they walk the sand dunes of Africa with Aunt Mary ashes slung around Clemmie’s neck in a poodle purse that certainly becomes the topic of conversation amongst many. This is a light and easy, feel good book that I found very entertaining and whimsical, yet well written with wonderfully crafted characters you can relate to, and with detailed evocative descriptions of the beauty and wonder of North Africa's land and people. I smiled from page one to the end and finished thinking the book was jolly good fun! ( )