The Victorian equivalent of a blockbuster. This is a thrilling tale of a female that is decidedly more deadly than the male.
On his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his father's quest to find this remote race. To find out for himself if the story is true, Leo and his companions set sail for Zanzibar. There, he is brought face to face with Ayesha, She-who-must-be-obeyed: dictator, femme fatale, tyrant and beauty. She has been waiting for centuries for the true descendant of Kallikrates, her murdered lover, to arrive, and arrive he does - in an unexpected form. Blending breathtaking adventure with a brooding sense of mystery and menace, She is a story of romance, exploration discovery and heroism that has lost none of its power to enthrall.
Henry Rider Haggard was born in Norfolk in 1856. His post of junior secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, Sir Henry Bulwer meant that he travelled and he spent six years in South Africa . Haggard was bet by his brother that he could not write as good a novel as Stevenson's Treasure Island. The result of this bet was Haggard's 1885 book, King Solomon's Mines. It became a runaway bestseller so Haggard was able to leave London and concentrate on his writing. He published She in 1887. Andrew Lang thought She was ‘one of the most astonishing romances I ever read. The more impossible it is, the better you do it, till it seems like a story from the literature of another planet'. Haggard died in 1925.
Related titles
Our top books, exclusive content and competitions. Straight to your inbox.
Thank you! Please check your inbox and confirm your email address to finish signing up.
![Ancius Boethius](/authors/kasi</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="c-swiper__slide">
<div class="c-book-block__slide">
<div class="c-book-block__thumb">
<a tabindex="-1" href="/books/the-consolation-of-philosophy-9780140447804">
<img class="b-lazy" alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAADIAAABMCAQAAACFHiyLAAAANElEQVR42u3NMQEAAAwCoNm/9FLoBQXIDUQikUgkEolEIpFIJBKJRCKRSCQSiUQikUgkTQ+gngBNM7n2pQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" data-src="https://cdn2.penguin.com.au/covers/400/9780140447804.jpg" />
<div class="c-swiper__penguin"></div>
</a>
</div>
<div class="c-book-block__content">
<a href="/books/the-consolation-of-philosophy-9780140447804">
<div class="c-book-block__title u-line-clamp" data-maxlines="3">The Consolation of Philosophy</div>
</a>
<div class="c-book-block__byline"> <a href=){kind=link}