Sidney Sheldon wrote THE SANDS OF TIME in 2000. I own the paperback copy that has 400 pages.
A TASTE OF WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT, (I am writing it in my own words but I like to use quotations):
’’The Book begins in 1974 in Pamplona, Spain. The people were in Town waiting for the final morning of the ’’running of the bulls’’ during the Fiesta de San Fermin, (it is celebrated every year for four hundred years from July 4-14. 30, 000 Visitors were here today. Some came to prove their ’’manhood’’ while others came to watch this dangerous ’’sport’’ called the ’’encierro’’, (the early morning running of the bulls). Every room available in the Town was full.
The night before at 11:50 P.M. these bulls had been taken from the ’’corrals de gas’’, (the reception pens), across the bridge to the corral at the bottom of the Calle Santo Domingo. In the morning they would be let loose to run wildly through the streets of the Town. The brave men who wanted to prove their ’’manhood’’ would run ahead of them or along side of them. Each year many of these Men were gored or trampled to death or hurt badly.
Some Students from Navarre had to make a bed in the doorways of bank lobbies, cars and the sidewalk and in the public square.
All through the night the visitors did not go to bed. They were too excited to sleep. Those who would take part in the run wore the red scarves of San Fermin around their necks.
During the night tall good looking man called Jamie Miro, (a hero to the people in the Basque part of Spain), is looking over his plans to see if he could find any mistakes. He did not find any. If this plan worked it would be a ’’spectacular feat’’ if it didn’t they would all die.
The Parade began with Marching Bands who all wore violet cloaks that were lined in garnet, gold or green. As the people watched it looked like ’’a river of rainbows’’. Firecrackers had been strung along the poles and wires of the path the bulls would run. They suddenly explode which added to the confusion and the noise.
At 7 A. M. when a rocket was sent up to signal that the gates should be opened. Traditionally 3 rockets were shot. It usually took the bulls to run the nine hundred yards from the Calle Santo Domingo to the Arena, (where they would be use in a Bull Fight later in the day). On this day the 3rd rocket did not go off. Something had happened that had never occurred before.
As the bulls were racing six men wearing the costumes of the ’’feria’’ had moved the wooden barricades and the bulls were running loose in the center of the Town. The happy celebration became a nightmare. Innocent people were being killed as the bulls gored Grandparents and Baby’s in their carriages. Screams were heard from every corner of the Town.
Suddenly a red truck appeared in front of the bulls and helped turn them around and they began to run down the street that led to the ’’carcel’’, (Prison).
Inside the Prison a Guard was taking a Priest through a metal detector. As soon as the Priest was past this point a siren went off. The Priest looked at the Guard and smiled and said, ’’It’s my mistake’’, as he took off his heavy metal cross and handed it to the Guard. The second time the Priest passed the test and they went into the Prison.
The Guard tried to tell the Priest that this visit to the two prisoners was a waist of time. The Priest looked stunned and said, ’’Both of them? I was told three needed to confess’’. That is when the Priest one man had died during the night of a ’’heart attack’’!
The man the Priest saw first was Ricardo Mellado. He had been beaten badly. The Priest said, ’’Your salvation is the Church’s duty.’’ The Priest listen to the confession and when he was finished he moved to the door of the cell and the Guard unlocked it. The Priest went to the cell of Felix Carpio. As the Priest was listening to his confession a sound was heard....’’muffled and then growing louder until it shook the brick Prison’’. It was the bulls who were making the sound.
As the Priest let the cell the front door of the prison was broken into. The Priest asked the Guard if he could borrow the Guards gun and as he moved closer to the Guard he removed a stiletto knife from his cross and killed the Guard. He said, ’’You see...G-d and I decided you have no longer need your weapon.’’
The Guard feel and Jaime Miro, (who had been dressed in the Priest’s robes), took the keys and opened the two cells.
The Men got into the truck and as it was passing through the Town Jaime Miro saw the death his caper had caused and said, ’’It wasn’t meant to be this way....’’
The Truck left Pamplona and headed south’’...and this is where I end what I will tell you about this book!
MY THOUGHTS:
This Book is about ’’war-torn’’ Spain and some of the people who are living though this difficult time.
The Story takes you on a trip through Spain. You become part of the lives of four Nuns who are force to leave their Convent, (they belong to the strictest order of Nuns called the Trappists). They were sent away for their own safety.
They are given a gold cross to take with them as it is the only valuable thing their Convent owns. On their journey the begin to remember the time they spent in the real World. This brings back memories for each of them.
Their long trip was suppose to take them to another Convent that was in a safer place. Each one has secrets that they try to keep hidden. No one can hide a secret and as you read the book all of the secrets are revealed.. Some of them are quite naughty!
The plot is about the Spanish terrorist group called ETA and the it’s leader Jaime Mira, (strangely this is a name of ’’hidden Jews’’. These were Jews who pretended to convert during the Spanish Inquisition but practiced Judaism behind closed doors). My friend who is a Professor of Spanish tells me he believes it is a Catalan Surname Either way it is odd that it was chosen for the leader of Basque Nationalist Group.
During one of their terrorist raid they end up with some of the Nuns. They become their companions.
Throughout the book there are threads of Spanish History and Politics. The description of the Spanish terrain is one of the best parts of the book.
As you read the book you begin to love some of them and hate others.
I found this book didn’t really follow the timeline
correctly. For example Megan was abandoned in 1947. The stories were happening when she was 28. That would make the year 1975. This is before the Berlin Wall came down. Many other historic events that were mentioned in the book already happened.
The second problem was Mr. Sheldon’s knowledge on the Catholic Church rules regarding how to become and be accepted as a nun seem to be wrong.
THE BOOKS I HAVE READ BY SIDNEY SHELDON:
The Conspiracy Theory, The Stars Shine Down and Nothing Lasts Forever.
These were books I could not put down. Sadly this one is not worth the few dollars I spent at a Garage Sale.
©LL