Marguerite van Geldermalsen was born in New Zealand; she was the second child of Dutch-born immigrant parents. When she was a young woman she travelled to the UK for her OE, (Overseas Experience), as many Kiwi kids do, and in 1978 while accompanying an Australian friend she went to Greece and Egypt and then into Jordan. Of course they visited Petra, a stunning ancient city carved by hand by the Nabataen people from the rock walls two thousand years ago. Here, Marguerite met Mohammed.

Mohammed was a member of a tribe of Bedouin who were no longer nomadic but who were not yet inhabiting houses either. Instead they occupied caves and tents in the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Marguerite and Mohammed fell in love and married and what follows is the story of her married life in a cave in Petra with no electricity, no phones, nothing of which we all normally take for granted. She seems to have been a remarkably calm young woman, gradually learning the language of the people around her and fitting into their culture and eventually converting to Islam. She also had to relearn the basics of life such as collecting firewood and learning to cook over a fire, collecting water by donkey. She became their resident nurse, and even a tourist attraction as her presence in Petra became known to the outside world. In 1984 she even met Queen Elizabeth the second and Queen Noor of Jordan.

This book was published in 2006 by Virago.