The Sheik is a book by Edith Maude Hull, an English novelist of the early twentieth century. It was her most popular and was the basis for the film of the same name. The novel opens in an hotel in the Algerian city of Biskra. A dance is being held, hosted by Diana Mayo and her brother. It transpires that Diana, who doesn't know what love is and doesn't want to know, is planning to go on a month long trip into the desert, taking no-one with her but the Arab guides. Nobody thinks this to be a sensible idea. It doesn't take long until Diana is kidnapped by the eponymous Sheik, Ahmed ben Hassen - it turns out her guide had been bribed - and the desert Sheik takes Diana to his tent and forces her to submit to his will.