November 1979. Violence has broken out in the holiest site of Islam after a charismatic rebel and his devoted followers have announced the coming of the Mahdi and seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Among the insurgents is a young woman, Sarab, disguised as a man. As the horror and chaos of the siege reach their peak, she escapes and encounters a French officer from the opposing side. They form an unexpected bond, as hostility turns to attraction, but the violence of both of their pasts will return to haunt them. Award-winning writer Raja Alem’s extraordinary narrative stretches from Saudi Arabia’s Najd desert to the heart of Paris. In her typical bold and captivating style, this most unusual of love stories unpicks faith and fanaticism, alienation and redemption, and ultimately what it means to be human.

Jabra tells his love story through alternate journal entries and with a complex layering of voices, showing how the affair of a famed (fictional) male novelist and the woman who desires him takes shape, through twin perspectives. Initially he is seen through the text of her journals: from her fascination with his writings until the instant when she arranges their first meeting. Thereafter, Jabra presents the male novelist's point of view: from the start of the relationship through demise due to departure, and eventual momentary reunion in romantic Paris. Jabra’s well-known concern with the inconstancy of identity and its articulation through multiple first-person narration is ever evident. However, this is the first time he places a strong female character at the center of his novel, with all the enticing complexities that result from the interplay of the author's projected female and male sensibilities. Crafting a tale of love from two disparate yet linked points of view, Jabra encourages readers to question their assumptions about the nature of self, its role in shaping character, and the possibilities of salvation through action. The extreme value Jabra places on the import of the female narrative gives his book a timely relevance.

Cape Cod families are difficult to trace because only the probate records survived the burning of the Barnstable County Courthouse in 1827, and similar disasters have taken their toll on the Cape's town records. Many of Chatham's records, for instance, were lost in a fire, and Yarmouth's records of the Revolutionary War period have been missing for years. Even so, many important Cape Cod town records still exist; the problem is that so few of them are in print. So it was fortuitous when Col. Leonard Smith stumbled upon a series of pamphlets published at Yarmouthport by Charles W. Swift in the early part of this century under the name Cape Cod Library of History and Genealogy. Although contributors to the Cape Cod Library included such celebrated genealogists as Josiah Paine (author of History of Harwich), William C. Smith (known for his History of Chatham), and Amos Otis (Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families), the series never reached a large audience, and is today virtually inaccessible. No library in the country holds the complete collection of 108 pamphlets. With great diligence, Col. Smith put together a complete collection for himself, arranged the pamphlets in the order in which they were published, and then, to make the material usable, compiled an index of names.--From publisher description.

The Cromer family originally of Germany. The original immigrants, believed to have been brothers, were: 1. John Michael Cromer born ca. 1706 in Baden, Germany, died in South Carolina. He came to America on the Ship Cunliss in 1752 with his three children, Frederick Cromer (b. ca. 1732), Jacob Cromer (b. ca. 1733), and Charlot Cromer (b. ca. 1741; 2. John George Cromer (d. bef. 1768) also born in Baden, and died in South Carolina. He and his wife, Christina, had four children, three born in Germany; 3. Andrew Cromer was born in Baden, died 1779 in S.C., and married Margaret Dreher. He is believed to be the progenitor of the Lexington County Cromers. Brothers of the immigrants, who were born in South Carolina were: George William Cromer who married Catherine Richardson; and Jacob Richard Cromer (1825-1896) who married Sarah Ann Caldwell (1845-1934), daughter of Robert Caldwell and Mary Sloan. She was born in Newberry Co., S.C. Family members and descendants live in South Carolina and elsewhere.