The Sheik (Barbara Cartland's Library of Love #1)

This was the 1st 'romance' novel that I ever read. I had found it tucked behind other books on my Granny's bookshelf. Owning my own copy and reading it brought back memories of spending hours being curled up next to Granny, drinking tea and discussing our latest and next reads!

I've always loved this novel. I've read it three times now. It's definitely one of the great romances of all times.

I first read this book when I was 14, at the time I found it very romantic. It has been years frome that moment, and reading it again took me back in time, and I still think is a very romantic book, even thought is in fact chauvinist, makes you want to be abducted and find a hidden love away from anything else...

It seems like this is one of those books that polarizes people. People either love it, hate it, or don't get it. Of course it's dated, incredibly racist, and horribly demeaning to women, but it's also one of the most captivating books I've ever read. The book is so well written that it is hard not to enjoy even while being disgusted. I won't bother to summarize the plot because others here already have. Part of what makes The Sheik so fascinating is to watch Diana's painful and rather revolting transformation. The Sheik is not realistic or politically correct in any way, but it is a lot of fun. The Sheik, as one of the first modern romance novels and as one of the most popular books of the 1920's, has had a very real impact on today's romance novels. The whole Sheik experienced has been influenced and enhanced for me by the fact I'm reading my great-grandmother's copy that she recieved for Christmas in 1922. Reading and enjoying the books of yesterday makes the past feel closer and more alive. I like to think that a woman I never knew poured over the pages of the same book.

Rather bored by the endless parties of the English aristocracy and the shallowness of the current crop of eligible bachelors, the wealthy, young and lovely Diana Mayo deserts to travel by horseback through the Algerian desert. There she is kidnaped by the powerful Sheik Ahmed Ban Hassan who compels her submission. Diana resists but can't help falling in love with this dark and handsome stranger. E.M. Hall was the pseudonym of Edith Maude Winstanley, and her 1920s era novel, The Sheik (and the basis for the famous Rudolph Valentino silent movie of the same name), has weathered the years very nicely and continues to be an outstanding and highly recommended romance novel for a whole new generation of readers.

I too found this book in my parent's collection. It was first published in 1921 and is beginning to show it. I read it first in my early twenties...wow! I could not put it down! Even though it is about kidnapping and forced affection (to say more would ruin it), it was terribly romantic! An easy read, but so enthralling! I still read it every year or so. I am looking for Sons of the Sheik and not having much luck. I've tried used book stores as well as online...I'll keep digging!