Allan's Wife

Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider), 1856-1925Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 269K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Allan's Wife by H. Rider HaggardAuthor: Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider), 1856-1925,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 28, 2006

Editor's review

Allan’s Wife continues Haggard’s African adventure vein, centering on the female character Allan and interweaving marriage, family feuds, and survival in the wilderness. Compared with adventure stories featuring Quatermain or Allan Quatermain as the protagonist, this book pays more attention to suspicion, promises, and sacrifice in personal relationships, and its plot moves forward with the dramatic twists common in Victorian adventure fiction. Its readability lies in its brisk pace and strong sense of scene, quickly drawing readers into a colonial-era African landscape full of danger and the unknown; at the same time, it should be recognized that the book’s depictions of race, gender, and “civilization” carry obvious limitations of their time, and today’s readers need to read it with a critical eye. It is suitable for readers interested in the history of the adventure novel genre and colonial literature, as a case for understanding how popular literature shaped public imagination.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Haggard's adventure novels and want to complete their survey of his work
Readers interested in popular literature set in colonial Africa
Students or enthusiasts studying the adventure genre and the writing of gender
Readers who can accept the limitations of an older work and read with a critical eye

Not a good fit for

Readers sensitive to colonialist narratives and racial stereotypes
Readers expecting modern gender attitudes and character development
Readers who prefer literary fiction with nuanced psychological portrayal

Reading tips

Familiarize yourself with the basic setup of Haggard's other African adventure novels before reading this one; it will make the relationships easier to follow.
Note the female protagonist's agency and its limits as you read; brief notes will be useful for later discussion.
Stay alert to colonial-era depictions; pause and annotate instances of stereotyping and consider their causes.
If time is limited, read the opening and ending first, then return to the middle conflicts to grasp the overall structure.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book connected to Haggard's African adventure series?

It belongs to the vein of Haggard's African adventure fiction, but it is not part of the same storyline as the series featuring Allan Quatermain. It focuses more on the female character Allan and her marriage, and can be read as a standalone work in the same thematic territory.

What is noteworthy about the portrayal of women in the book?

Allan is not entirely passive; her choices in difficult circumstances drive a good deal of the plot. Yet, constrained by the attitudes of the time, the work still shapes her within the gender framework then in fashion. As you read, note the tension between her room for action and the narrator's evaluation of her.

Is the public-domain e-book suitable for direct classroom use?

It can serve as classroom material, but teachers should supply historical context and a critical perspective. The book's depiction of colonial Africa carries clear biases, and using it without framing may lead to misreadings; a guided introduction and discussion questions are recommended to help students examine the narrative stance.

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About the author

Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider), 1856-1925 Author

H. Rider Haggard (Henry Rider Haggard, 1856–1925) was an English writer best known for his adventure and fantasy novels. Because public information is limited, his detailed life and educational background are not discussed here. The library holds 64 of his works, including representative titles such as King Solomon's Mines, She, Allan Quatermain, Nada the Lily, The People of the Mist, She and Allan, and Wisdom's Daughter. His writing often centers on African settings and exotic exploration, blending treasure hunting, ancient civilizations, mysterious women, and lost worlds into tightly plotted, highly imaginative stories. Characters such as Allan Quatermain have had a lasting influence on adventure literature, and his works have been translated into many languages and remain popular with readers.