SOLVED. a ya-ish romance set in a desert-tent dwelling community [s]

[jacqui]

Hello everyone, I've been searching for this book for quite a while now. I posted in the whatwasthatbook community on Livejournal with no luck, so I thought I'd try here.

I think the title might have had the word 'sand' in it, or maybe 'dune' or the like? It's definitely a novel, and it's either children's fiction or young adult. I think it was written before "Young Adult" became a full-fledged genre. I'm pretty sure it's either historical or some sort of alternate universe. It's set, I think, in an Arabic country, or maybe somewhere fictional with a slightly Arabic flavour. It's definitely a desert landscape. It's about a tribe (might not be the right word) of people who live in the desert, in tents. I'm not sure if they move around or not. The main character and narrator is a girl, who's in love with a boy that for some reason is no longer with their group, but instead living in a city. I'm pretty sure that at some point she goes (flees?) to the city to visit him. And I think for some reason there's a reordering of power within the group of people who live in the tents, or maybe they're conquered by another tribe because she ends up stuck in a tent belonging to a powerful man that she can't disobey (or something along those lines.) I think she might be being forced into becoming his wife? I'm pretty sure it has a happy ending, with the boy from the city rescuing her. The cover is a portrait (not a photograph the way lots of YA covers are now) of the girl, outside some of the tents. It's at night, and it's done in mostly shades of blue, I think.

Thanks for any help!

[Carmen]

Is it the The Beduins' Gazelle by Frances Temple?

[jacqui]

Yes! Thank you! Wow, I got so much of that summary wrong.

[Carmen]

You're welcome.

You got the cover right.

Carmen
Author Two Moon Princess