Gondar by Nicholas Luard (1988)

Gondar
by Nicholas Luard
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Copyright:  1988

Fact and fiction combine to form this darkly fascinating novel of the struggle for control of the fabled 19th-century Abyssinian kingdom.  Exotic and fantastic, Nicholas Luard's rich tapestry is filled with unforgettable characters, both real and imaginary . . . .

A majestic tale of heart stopping adventure, boundless passion, bizarre rituals and violence, sweeping from battlefield to bedroom with searing intensity . . .

Of all the world's great mysteries, none is more spectacularly romantic than this ancient city, with its exquisite castles and now-echoing empty audience chambers, perched upon mountains so high they are forever known as the Mountains of the Moon.  Four characters lie at the heart of this epic conflict:  Princess Rachel -- granddaughter of the Emperor of Gondar, conceived at the source of the Nile and exiled from her birthright when the Acab Saat, greediest of all of Gondar's high priests, seizes power for himself.  Saat's banishment from Gondar for an unthinkable crime leads him to seek a bloodthirsty revenge.  Jamie Oran -- a young Scotsman, befriended by the kind but troubled wife of famed explorer Stanley Livingstone, whose tales of the exotic jungle lead Jamie to Africa in search of the source of the Nile.  And the twins, Mamkinga and Toomi -- son and daughter of Gondar's neighboring ruler, kidnapped by thieves and sold into slavery as children, they endure torment and torture, sustained only by the hope that they may someday by reunited . . .

On the dusty, sunbaked slave routes of Africa, through her savage deserts and jungles, in Arab trading towns rich with gold and primitive native villages alive with magic and superstition, the paths of these four young lives are destined to cross again and again until at last they unite in one mission:  the taking of Gondar.

Here is compelling and captivating entertainment that inexorably draws us into an Africa that seethes with such violence, spectacle and romance.  Nicholas Luard's Gondar is a masterpiece of magical storytelling.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  Dust cover is lightly discolored and has rubbed edges.  Previous owner's name is blacked out on the front endpaper with the date written beside it.  There's an envelope pasted to the front endpaper as a way for her to keep track of her books.  Pages may be tanning from age.

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