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She Who Sleeps
1928. Rohmer (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward) was a prolific English mystery writer, best known for the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu and his opponents Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. Petrie, named after the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, and the beautiful Karamaneh, the source of Petrie's daydreams. He also wrote under the name Michael Furey. She Who Sleeps Barry Cumberland pushed on through a growing darkness. There seemed to be an unfamiliar quality in this darkness which he first noticed when, quite mechanically, he stooped to switch on his headlights, and in doing so saw the time by the clock in the car. He slowed down for a moment, on a crossways, and stared into the west. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1928
About the author
Sax Rohmer
527 books125 followersAKA Arthur Sarsfield Ward (real name); Michael Furey.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward (15 February 1883 - 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.
Born in Birmingham to a working class family, Rohmer initially pursued a career as a civil servant before concentrating on writing full-time.
He worked as a poet, songwriter, and comedy sketch writer in Music Hall before creating the Sax Rohmer persona and pursuing a career writing weird fiction.
Like his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to one of the factions of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Rohmer also claimed ties to the Rosicrucians, but the validity of his claims has been questioned. His physician and family friend, Dr. R. Watson Councell may have been his only legitimate connection to such organizations. It is believed that Rohmer may have exaggerated his association in order to boost his literary reputation as an occult writer.
His first published work came in 1903, when the short story The Mysterious Mummy was sold to Pearson's Weekly. He gradually transitioned from writing for Music Hall performers to concentrating on short stories and serials for magazine publication. In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox.
He published his first novel Pause! anonymously in 1910. After penning Little Tich in 1911 (as ghostwriter for the Music Hall entertainer) he issued the first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, was serialized from October 1912 - June 1913. It was an immediate success with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The Fu Manchu stories, together with his more conventional detective series characters—Paul Harley, Gaston Max, Red Kerry, Morris Klaw, and The Crime Magnet—made Rohmer one of the most successful and well-paid authors of the 1920s and 1930s.
Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen. Rohmer was very poor at managing his wealth, however, and made several disastrous business decisions that hampered him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru.
After World War II, the Rohmers moved to New York only returning to London shortly before his death. Rohmer died in 1959 due to an outbreak of influenza ("Asian Flu").
There were thirteen books in the Fu Manchu series in all (not counting the posthumous The Wrath of Fu Manchu. The Sumuru series consist of five books.
His wife published her own mystery novel, Bianca in Black in 1954 under the pen name, Elizabeth Sax Rohmer. Some editions of the book mistakenly credit her as Rohmer's daughter. Elizabeth Sax Rohmer and Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of the author, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 18, 2022
A rather curious novel as there are no supervillains (or villainesses) and the love interest is rather muted despite it being very much an occult romance.
In what is now the standard Rohmer opening, our hero, the socialite Barry Cumberland comes into contact with a mysterious (and of course beautiful) woman who he encounters almost immediately before crashing his car deep in the countryside around New York.
Who is she and what is the possible link between her and another mysterious (albeit long dead- or is she sleeping?) princess who lies in a newly discovered and unplundered Egyptian pyramid?
Two-thirds of the book is set in Egypt as Cumberland and his father (who happens to be a super-rich collector of Egyptian antiquities) lead a team to illegally excavate the pyramid and investigate the theory that the princess may only be ‘she who sleeps but who will awaken’.
It would be impolitic to reveal what the adventurers discover but there is a lot to like in the book including some (deliberately) humorous dialogue which is the first I have encountered in his works. Who would have thought Rohmer had it in him? For those who feel Rohmer’s work racist, this element is entirely absent in the novel and the author appears to (gently) mock some western preconceptions about ‘the east’ and its lack of civilisation.
The book may also seem slow in comparison with many of his other novels but I get the sense that Rohmer enjoyed writing it as it has been carefully constructed (as opposed to lashed together) with evocative scenes set in the Egyptian desert as the archaeologists/adventurers surreptitiously excavate the tomb. This slow build-up is very well done and Rohmer’s plotting sustained the atmosphere (and my attention) for over one hundred pages which I read in one sitting.
The latter part of the book feels a little more formulaic at times but this does not massively detract from the overall read and is fully redeemed by a very effective plot twist.
Overall, this sits up there with ‘The Green Eyes Of Bast’ and ‘Grey Face’ as one of the best Rohmer’s I’ve read thus far and well worth picking up. Recommended!
In what is now the standard Rohmer opening, our hero, the socialite Barry Cumberland comes into contact with a mysterious (and of course beautiful) woman who he encounters almost immediately before crashing his car deep in the countryside around New York.
Who is she and what is the possible link between her and another mysterious (albeit long dead- or is she sleeping?) princess who lies in a newly discovered and unplundered Egyptian pyramid?
Two-thirds of the book is set in Egypt as Cumberland and his father (who happens to be a super-rich collector of Egyptian antiquities) lead a team to illegally excavate the pyramid and investigate the theory that the princess may only be ‘she who sleeps but who will awaken’.
It would be impolitic to reveal what the adventurers discover but there is a lot to like in the book including some (deliberately) humorous dialogue which is the first I have encountered in his works. Who would have thought Rohmer had it in him? For those who feel Rohmer’s work racist, this element is entirely absent in the novel and the author appears to (gently) mock some western preconceptions about ‘the east’ and its lack of civilisation.
The book may also seem slow in comparison with many of his other novels but I get the sense that Rohmer enjoyed writing it as it has been carefully constructed (as opposed to lashed together) with evocative scenes set in the Egyptian desert as the archaeologists/adventurers surreptitiously excavate the tomb. This slow build-up is very well done and Rohmer’s plotting sustained the atmosphere (and my attention) for over one hundred pages which I read in one sitting.
The latter part of the book feels a little more formulaic at times but this does not massively detract from the overall read and is fully redeemed by a very effective plot twist.
Overall, this sits up there with ‘The Green Eyes Of Bast’ and ‘Grey Face’ as one of the best Rohmer’s I’ve read thus far and well worth picking up. Recommended!
Want to Read
May 25, 2026رواية "التي تنام: قصة حب بين نيويورك والنيل" لساكس روهمر، كُتبت في أوائل القرن العشرين. تمزج الرواية بين دسائس مجتمع نيويورك وعلم الآثار المصرية ولمحة من الخوارق. تدور أحداثها حول باري كمبرلاند، ابن جامع تحف ثري، تطارده شبح امرأة غامضة تشبه الكاهنة، وينجر إلى رحلة استكشافية يقترحها تاجر التحف المهيب دانبازار، الذي تشير بردية يملكها إلى أميرة محفوظة على قيد الحياة عبر آلاف السنين. توقعوا الرومانسية، والعلوم الخفية، ومطاردة عبر المحيط الأطلسي تربط لغزًا معاصرًا بأسرار فرعونية. تبدأ الرواية بباري وهو يقود سيارته بسرعة جنونية وسط عاصفة جبلية، يلمح امرأة ذات ملامح مصرية على شرفة قبل لحظات من تحطم سيارته، ثم يستيقظ في المستشفى برفقة منقذ مجهول الهوية، دون أي وسيلة لتحديد مكان الحادث. يعثر على المنزل المنعزل، لكنه لا يجد سوى حارس عدائي ونوافذ مغلقة. لاحقًا، يلمح المرأة نفسها من بعيد في حديقة مسوّرة، ثم خلف حجاب في سيارة ليموزين عابرة، وربما مرة أخرى على رصيف. في هذه الأثناء، يستضيف والد باري دانبازار، الذي يكشف عن بردية فريدة من نوعها تتحدث عن الأميرة زاليثيا، وهي أسيرة يُزعم أنها وُضعت في حالة سكون في زمن سيتي. يُؤكد الخبراء صحة الوثيقة بينما يناقشون مزاعمها، ويكشف دانبازار أنه عثر على المقبرة غير المفتوحة وصيغة متعلقة بها. يوافق جون كمبرلاند على تمويل حفريات في النيل، ومع وضع الخطط، يستعد باري للمغادرة، ولا يزال مفتونًا بتلك المرأة الغامضة التي تُحيط بها الأحداث منذ البداية وحتى النهاية.
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August 19, 2020
A love story disguised as an adventure, with some magic thrown in. Barry Cumberland is a rich New York socialite with no direction. One night he sees the woman of his dreams and wrecks his car. He spends weeks trying to find her afterward with limited success. HIs father is a famed Egyptologist who is on the verge of a magnificent discovery. He takes Barry with him to Egypt to unearth the tomb of an Egyptian priestess. Not her mummy, the actual live priestess, who looks exactly like Barry's dream woman.
A long look at high class New York social life in the 1920's, complete with speakeasies, constant smoking, wealthy dowagers, even a Countess. Then the book delves into the intricacies of tomb robbing, as the party bypasses the Egyptian government to illegal excavate their priestess. This takes up most of the middle of the book. And then the discovery.
I was ready to give this one a 3 but I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. Not that it was a total shock, but the way it was handled was refreshing. An easy read and a good story, even if is a bit overlong.
A long look at high class New York social life in the 1920's, complete with speakeasies, constant smoking, wealthy dowagers, even a Countess. Then the book delves into the intricacies of tomb robbing, as the party bypasses the Egyptian government to illegal excavate their priestess. This takes up most of the middle of the book. And then the discovery.
I was ready to give this one a 3 but I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. Not that it was a total shock, but the way it was handled was refreshing. An easy read and a good story, even if is a bit overlong.
December 27, 2025
I really was surprised by how much I liked this one. There's nothing specific that stands out as 'wow, that was awesome', but it was interesting and engaging enough to keep me wanting to dip into it whenever I had a spare moment - to me, that's the mark of a really good book.
A bit specific interest but if you like mystery novels of the era then this is definitely worth a look
A bit specific interest but if you like mystery novels of the era then this is definitely worth a look
December 10, 2021
Not a shining piece of literature or mystery, but somehow was atmospheric enough for me to finish — even though I figured it out halfway through. I guess that era was just way more trusting, and Mr. Rohmer didn’t give them enough credit to think they would see through it. Not a Fu Manchu volume.
April 28, 2017
A bit slow moving (for Rohmer) but surprisingly well written and enthralling most of the time, but with a disappointing conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews