Jess
by H. Rider Haggard
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Set in nineteenth-century South Africa during a time of conflict, deprivation and hardship, the tale Jess is something of a departure from the typical formula of H. Rider Haggard's novels. Following the travails of a pair of sisters who are fighting to save their family's farm, Jess is a captivating look at the brave sacrifices that so many people are called on to make in wartime..
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Had never heard of this novel before reading it. That was my loss. Went in expecting just another Victorian Era adventure or travel tale. I was wrong. This is an adventurous 1st Beor War period piece containing a philosophical love story used to relate an intense character study. H. Rider Haggard leaves us with book full of memorable characters. The angel of light type villain is balanced thru out by the title character of Jess. The two being glued together via a tight plot and a host of fully realized multidimensional minor characters. Like a better Humphrey Bogart movie, this is story of tight action and an intense love.
A romance set in the Transvaal at the time of the first British annexation and then the Boer reaction to it. Haggard clearly felt that the renunciation of the first annexation was dishonorable and unwise, and takes a negative attitude toward the Boers; the villain Frank Muller is a Boer. Overall the story is more a tragic romance than the kind of action adventure typical of the Quartermain series.
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Author Information
285+ Works 18,927 Members
Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) is best remembered for his 34 adventure fantasy novels set in exotic locations. As a child, Haggard, whose father was an English barrister, was considered dim-witted and was inclined to daydreaming. His parents ended his formal education when he was seventeen, and he was sent to work in South Africa, where his show more imagination was inspired by the people, animals, and jungle. He became close friends with authors Rudyard Kipling and Andrew Lang. Haggard's most popular books are King Solomon's Mines (1886) and She (1887). He also wrote short stories, as well as nonfiction on topics such as gardening, English farming, and rural life, interests which led to duties on government commissions concerned with land maintenance. For his literary contributions and his government service, Haggard was knighted in 1912. Several of Haggard's novels have been filmed. She was filmed in 1965, starring Ursula Andress. King Solomon's Mines was filmed with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr in 1950, and again with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone in 1985. Also, the novel Allan Quatermain was filmed as Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone in 1986. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1886
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy
- DDC/MDS
- 823.8 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1837-1899
- LCC
- PR9369.3 .R637 .H344 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 41
- Popularity
- 716,546
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 41
- ASINs
- 5
