Like Webster s Johnnie Alone (1988) and The Flight of the Swan (1990), here s another earnest, sentimental chronicle about an oppressed person who finds a new life--in this case, Tunisia is the setting for escape from darkness. When 35-year-old Caroline s mother dies (she was a tyrannical horror), Caroline has a mental breakdown trying to face the outside world--but there s a fellow sufferer in the wings who will bring about Caroline s recovery: photographer Jon Armorel, also in a psychiatric hospital since he s burdened by guilt over the death of his partner, Richard, in Lebanon--though, in fact, the death was no fault of Jon s. The two miseries pair up for work in Tunisia, Jon to photograph wildlife on a beautiful inland lake, and Caroline to record and keep notes. Both live with a veteran worker on foreign relief missions--the 50-ish Welshwoman, Ankaret-- and the young (relentlessly adorable) Arab boy, Zizi, she intends to adopt. Meanwhile, there s love all around, but Caroline and Jon are unable to show feelings for each other. Among the visitors to Ankaret s home: predatory Selina, Richard s widow; a lively French doctor; and a thief who s after Ankaret s jewels. Before the close, there ll be a kidnapping (when Caroline shows her mettle), a death, an unburdening, and finally Jon and Caroline stumble toward one another. Although this pastille dissolves even as one reads, and the French-dropping characters are un peu tiresome, the birds on Tunisia s lake are charmant.