Joan Seabrook, a fledgling archaeologist, has fulfilled her lifelong dream to travel to Arabia and has arrived in the ancient city of Muscat with her fiance, Rory. Desperate to escape the pain of a personal tragedy, she longs to explore the desert fort of Jabrin and unearth the wonders held within. But Oman is a land lost in time, and in the midst of violent upheaval gaining permission to explore could prove impossible. Joan's disappointment is only eased by the thrill of meeting her childhood heroine, pioneering explorer Maude Vickery, and hearing the stories that captured her imagination and sparked her ambition as a child. The friendship that forms between the two women will change everything. Both have desires to fulfil and secrets to keep. As their bond grows, Joan is inspired by the thrill of her new friend's past and finds herself swept up in a bold and dangerous adventure of Maude's making. Only too late does she begin to question her actions - actions that will spark a wild, and potentially devastating, chain of events. Will the girl that left England for this beautiful but dangerous land ever find her way back?
