The story of two young women, Alice and Lucy, best friends at Bennington, a Vermont college in the 50s whose friendship is tested when one, fragile Alice, meets a boy from a neighbouring college. Then ‘something’ happens and fast forward a year and Alice, now married to the vaguely mysterious government official, John, is in Tangier where Lucy finds her.

What should be a fascinating mystery, set in the oppressive heat of a city where tensions between the Moroccans and their colonial masters are at breaking point as independence approaches, descends into a muddled and highly derivative tale. The two narrators are both highly unreliable but repetitive and their voices are not sufficiently distinct. The dialogue is stilted; the supporting cast are mere ciphers with the one Moroccan, Youssef, coming dangerously close to being a caricature.

The denouement comes as a welcome but rather rushed surprise at the end of the meandering second half of the novel. In conclusion, a fascinating premise let down by weak characterisation and a plot that loses its tension midway through the book.