Allan’s Wife
Sir Henry Rider Haggard
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Allan, hero of the famous adventure-novelist’s KING SOLOMON’S MINES, is here shown as a young man, in love with Stella Carson–an English girl reared in the unspoilt beauty of a lost valley in Darkest Africa. The romance is complicated by the passionate jealousy of Hendrika–stolen in infancy by gorillas, reared as a female Tarzan, and rescued to be Stella’s companion, foster-sister and adorer. Hendrika first attempts to murder Allan; the scene in which she rages insanely at Allan for stealing Stella’s love, and Allan’s quiet acceptance of the “curious” fact that the strongest loves are not always between those of different sexes, places this book almost alone in forthright English treatment of variance for its date. From this high level of psychological realism, the story reverts to Haggard-type melodrama; Stella is kidnapped by Hendrika’s gorilla friends; dramatically rescued in a thrilling jungle battle; her death from exposure and Hendrika’s remorseful suicide complete the story. Strange, romantic, and quite in a class by itself. ~ Marion Zimmer Bradley
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Details
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publication Date | 1889 |
| Publisher | Spencer Blackett |
| Format | Hardcover |
| Notes | Cover artist Hoowkay Cowles on 2nd impression, 1952 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Great |
| Illustrator | Charles Kerr; Maurice Greiffenhagen |
| BookID | 360 |
