I read only 'An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids' and 'A Ride Across Palestine' for the Trollope Society book club.

The Pyramids story was well constructed and at times amusing, but the title was ironic and the thrust of the humour unkind (unlike the tone of Trollope's novels).

The twist in the Palestine story was blatantly and repeatedly sign-posted, and I am not sure really what the point of it was. I had anticipated that

SPOILER

John Smith would turn out to be the narrator's own wife, taking him to task for travelling under an alias. Where was his wife? Why was he pretending to be called Jones?

There were frequent matter of fact references to Arabs being dirty and begging and haggling constantly, in keeping with attitudes prevailing at the time the story was written. I wouldn't rush to read more stories from this volume. ( )