The Sands of Time (Sheldon novel)
First edition
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| Author | Sidney Sheldon |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | adventure romance |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
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Publication date
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1988 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 412 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 20652560 |
| Preceded by | Windmills of the Gods |
| Followed by | Memories of Midnight |
The Sands of Time is a 1988 action novel by author Sidney Sheldon. A best-seller, the novel follows the adventures of four women who are forced to leave their Spanish convent for the outside world of threat, violence and passions; and two men who are pitted against each other in a fight to the death.
In Pamplona, Spain in 1976, the Basque people are fighting against the Spanish government for their rights to autonomy. ETA leader Jaime Miro, along with friends Ricardo Mellado and Felix Carpio, escape from prison, but at the expense of many civilian lives during a sabotaged bull-running exhibit that was used as a distraction from the police. Following the event, the Prime Minister assigns Colonel Ramón Acoca (head of the anti-ETA group GOE) to hunt down Jaime Miró; Acoca's wife and unborn child were killed in a Basque demonstration assisted by the ETA and the Church, so when he suspects Jaime hiding in a convent, he decides to raid it by force despite the implications of it.
The Cistercian Convent of the Strict Observance just outside Ávila, where women of all backgrounds choose to live a life of solitude, worship, and fasting, is run by Reverend Mother Betina. When the GOE raid the convent and proceed to assault and rape the sisters, four sisters manage to escape; the eldest nun, Teresa, is given the task to take the convent's only valuable asset, a cross made of gold, to the nearest convent where it will be safe. The four nuns have different back stories. The latest member of the convent, Sister Lucia, is actually Lucia Carmine, the wealthy daughter of a Mafia Don who went to the convent as a means of escape after she murdered three men involved in her father's arrest, and plans to lay low for a few months before escaping to Switzerland to retrieve her father's offshore money. Sister Graciella is the daughter of a bitter woman who loathes her daughter because she is a reminder of the man who left her, as well as the fact that Graceilla "stole" her beauty, and beat her daughter unconscious when she caught her having sex with her current lover; Graciella found peace with God, and voluntarily went to the convent. Sister Megan was abandoned and was never claimed for adoption and opted to join the convent instead of becoming a maid, but longs to know who her real family is. And Sister Teresa was a religious person growing up until her younger, more beautiful sister Monique stole her fiance, and she went against God until she decided to stay in a convent when her fiance begged for her forgiveness and said he was coming back for her.
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