She - Tapa dura

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award This imaginative classic from the late 1800s is expertly read by Bill Homewood. The story is a first-person narrative that follows the journey of Horace Holly, a Cambridge University professor, and his ward, Leo Vincey, to a lost kingdom in central Africa. After a shipwreck, they encounter a primitive people called the Amahagger in the lost kingdom of Kor and a mysterious white sorceress who reigns as the all-powerful 'She-who-must-be-obeyed.' Homewood exquisitely captures the wonders and horrors encountered by these Victorian gentlemen on their adventures. His calm, well-paced reading adds a dimension of reality to a tale of natives, murder, and rage. Modulations of tone and inflection add to a performance that keeps listeners entranced. --AudioFile

Haggard's years with the Governor of Natal in the 1970s inspired the kernel of this very Victorian fantasy. Cambridge don Holly and his adopted son Vincey are searching for the legendary Queen Ayesha, known as 'She' by the primitive tribe which the adventurers discover in Africa. This is no boys' adventure like King Solomon's Mines - a seductive element of eroticism is woven into the fantastic tale of mysterious clues, reincarnation, cannibalism, suspense and women's thraldom over men. --Rachel Redford, The Oldie

A nineteenth century work of imperialist fiction, 'She' (1887) also expresses late Victorian attitudes towards race, evolution and British colonialism in Africa. A first person narrative, which follows Cambridge professor Horace Holly, who is charged with looking after a colleague s young son, on their journey to a lost African kingdom. The pair, accompanied by their servant Job and Captain Mahomed, are captured by the Amahagger people who are ruled by the white Queen Ayesha also known as She-who-must be-obeyed. But can the men escape the savage tribe unharmed as well as resisting the charms of beautiful Queen Ayesha? Haggard s She remains popular today not only for its imaginative style but also for its relevance to female authority and feminine behaviour. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and fantasy to science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic. Each book features a brand new biography and glossary of Literary, Gothic and Victorian terms.