***To the Heart of the Nile
Lady Florence Baker and the Exploration of Central
Africa
by Pat Shipman
Reviewed April 20,
2004.
William Morrow, New York, 2004. 428 pages.
To the Heart of the Nile tells the amazing story of Lady
Florence Baker. She was definitely not your typical Victorian lady
of society. Although she was Hungarian, she was orphaned and ended
up in a harem in the Ottoman Empire. She was stolen from the harem
by Sam Baker when she was fifteen, and went on to help him discover the
secondary source of the Nile, Lake Albert.
This book covers their travels. Together, they faced unbelievable
hardships and terrible dangers, but she always stayed by his side.
This book reminded me of the Amelia Peabody books with a feisty lady
in Africa during Victorian times. The major difference is that this
story was completely true.
To the Heart of the Nile is the amazing story of a remarkable
lady with the heart of a lion.
Copyright © 2004 Sondra Eklund.
All rights reserved.
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Book Reviews by Sondra
Eklund