Only fair. The basic story line was quite interesting and believable, but Caldwell's writing failed to really involve me emotionally. I doubt that I would read another of her works. ( )

The Meeting Point is an exploration of whether one should be satisfied with their life and love. Ruth is married to a lovely man, but Euan has been disappearing into his religion at the expense of their relationship and baby girl. After they move to Bahrain, so that Euan can take up missionary work, Ruth becomes further isolated...until she meets the cousin of one of her neighbours.

With her husband wandering the desert, Ruth falls more and more into lust with Farid, a considerably younger local man. Farid is clearly not Christian, and as the affair progresses Ruth begins to question everything - her relationship with her daughter, her marriage, and her religion. Is she brave enough to give up the safety of the only life she has ever known for an exciting fling?

The secondary character of Noor, the neighbour girl who watches Ruth's baby during the affair, disturbed me. There wasn't a problem with the girl per se, more so the way Ruth treated her. Noor was clearly a sad and desperate young women who needed guidance; Ruth was so self-centered though that she brushed off all of the warning signs that Noor gave her. The plot-line involving Noor should be left a surprise. You will probably see the warning signs, but I still don't want to spoil anything.

This was a more serious novel than most summer affairs, yet it was certainly worth the read. The writing was sensuous, and although I normally do not care for religious works, this was a fascinating exploration of what religion means and its role in our lives. I absolutely recommend you give this novel a try! ( )

A novel based in Bahrain.

I'm very torn between 3 or 4 stars on this one. On the one hand I love that it's based in Bahrain, a neighbour state to Dubai and a place that I have visited several times. I even attempted to visit the Tree of Life but my driver got lost - now I'm wondering if that was possibly a good thing! On the other hand, the book itself seemed somehow lacking and I really didn't take to the constasnt bible references, I think these could put off many readers.

Ruth and Euan Armstrong leave Ireland for a year's posting as missionaries in Bahrain. They are permitted to guide the Christians within the population but are strictly prohibited from preaching to Muslims. Euan launches himself into his work, but Ruth is left behind in the small compound with her two year old daughter, Anna. She is not comfortable with many of the residents of the compound, largely because she has discovered that there are ulterior motives to her husband's work that she is sworn to secrecy on and she is afraid that she will let something slip.
Teenage Noor is struggling to come to terms with her identity as the half British, half Bahraini, daughter of divorced parents. She has recently moved to Bahrain after an incident in her boarding school in UK. She speaks to us fluently through her diary and it was impossible not to be moved by her need for Ruth and her daughter Anna.
When Ruth meets Noor's cousin, Farid, she gets the chance to visit some interesting parts of the island, but she also causes harself a lot of problems.

In none of my visits to Bahrain have I ever experienced the constant winds that the author talked about but I did envy Ruth's opportunity to go behind the scenes into the real island, an otherwise impenetrable mystery.
This is worth reading but more for its novelty value than as a gripping read. ( )