I think I prefer Mantel's non-historical work. This is an intelligent, mysterious & fascinating novel about a British expat couple living in Jeddah. Unable to work Frances (a cartographer) is isolated at home and navigates the strangeness of life in the Kingdom and the bigotry of local British expat communities. She befriends her glamorous Pakistani neighbour and watches strange things happen in the top floor flat. The only thing is I never could quite piece together what happened in the end and grew frustrated with the protagonist's restless hope in turn. But the depiction of the expat experience was insightful.