A dazzling book about a 40 yr old "spinster" from Ohio, who loses her entire family to the influenza epidemic of 1918. After her tragic loss she travels to Egypt and beyond and rubs shoulders with the world leaders of the day (T. E. Lawerence, Gertrude Bell, Wintson Churchill). A mini-history course on how those decision makers affected the future of the middle east and our current predicament. I loved it.