Name: Benita, An African Romance
Price: 748.00 TWD
Availability: InStock
Author: Henry Rider Haggard
ISBN: 9781973836452

Type

Physical Book

Author

Henry Rider Haggard

Publisher

Createspace

Language

English

Pages

204

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm

Weight

0.28 kg.

ISBN13

9781973836452

Synopsis "Benita, An African Romance"

Beautiful, beautiful was that night! No air that stirred; the black smoke from the funnels of the mail steamer Zanzibar lay low over the surface of the sea like vast, floating ostrich plumes that vanished one by one in the starlight. Benita Beatrix Clifford, for that was her full name, who had been christened Benita after her mother and Beatrix after her father's only sister, leaning idly over the bulwark rail, thought to herself that a child might have sailed that sea in a boat of bark and come safely into port. Then a tall man of about thirty years of age, who was smoking a cigar, strolled up to her. At his coming she moved a little as though to make room for him beside her, and there was something in the motion which, had anyone been there to observe it, might have suggested that these two were upon terms of friendship, or still greater intimacy. For a moment he hesitated, and while he did so an expression of doubt, of distress even, gathered on his face. It was as though he understood that a great deal depended on whether he accepted or declined that gentle invitation, and knew not which to do. Indeed, much did depend upon it, no less than the destinies of both of them. If Robert Seymour had gone by to finish his cigar in solitude, why then this story would have had a very different ending; or, rather, who can say how it might have ended? The dread, foredoomed event with which that night was big would have come to its awful birth leaving certain words unspoken. Violent separation must have ensued, and even if both of them had survived the terror, what prospect was there that their lives would again have crossed each other in that wide Africa? But it was not so fated, for just as he put his foot forward to continue his march Benita spoke in her low and pleasant voice. "Are you going to the smoking-room or to the saloon to dance, Mr. Seymour? One of the officers just told me that there is to be a dance," she added, in explanation, "because it is so calm that we might fancy ourselves ashore." "Neither," he answered. "The smoking-room is stuffy, and my dancing days are over. No; I proposed to take exercise after that big dinner, and then to sit in a chair and fall asleep. But," he added, and his voice grew interested, "how did you know that it was I? You never turned your head."

Henry Rider Haggard

(Author)

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Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was a prolific British novelist, a pioneer of the adventure genre, and known for his stories set in Africa and ancient Egypt. Born in Bradenham, Norfolk, he was the son of a lawyer and a writer. After studying at Ipswich high school and working in South Africa as the secretary to the governor of Natal, Haggard returned to England in 1882. There, he wrote a story about the Zulus and prepared to enter the Bar, although his literary career soon eclipsed his legal practice.

His greatest success came with King Solomon's Mines (1885), an African adventure novel that introduced the character Allan Quatermain. This book marked the beginning of the "lost worlds" subgenre and was followed by She (1887), which became a classic of fantasy literature. The protagonist of She, Ayesha, was cited by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung as a prototype of the feminine.

Throughout his career, Haggard wrote more than 60 novels, many of them set in Africa or other parts of the British Empire. His work influenced later writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was knighted in 1912 for his services in the agricultural reform of the British Empire. He died in 1925 in London and was buried at St. Mary's Church in Ditchingham, Norfolk.

Although his novels reflect the imperialist ideals of his time, they also show a remarkable sympathy towards the native African populations, which distinguishes them from other colonial works of his time.
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