The Sands of Time is a 1988 fiction by acclaimed novelist, Sidney Sheldon.
Plot
from the back cover
Spain. A land of eternal passion and unceasing bloodshed. From the vengeance of a pitiless tyrant, four women flee the sacred, once-safe walls of the convent:
Lucia - the proud survivor harboring a murderous secret from the savage clan wars of Sicily...
Graciela - the beauty still unpurged of guilt from one reckless, youthful sin...
Megan - the orphan seeking perilous refuge in the arms of a defiant Basque Rebel, and...
Teresa - the believer haunted by a faith that mocks her with silence.
Leaving innocence but not hope behind, they venture into an alien and dazzling world, where each will encounter an unexpected destiny - and the truth about herself.