MAMBA

by Stuart Cloete ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 20, 1956

The setting is the Congo -- a remote ranch where a strange double triangle exists:- two men, the manager, Henry, and his assistant, Jim, and the native girl who was Henry's mistress, Marie-Therese; then Helen, whom Henry brings back as his bride- and her love for Jim, and Marie-Therese as foil- playing both men against each other, and hating her rival, Helen. Jim tells the story -- tells it after the climax has been reached, Marie-Therese a victim of the leopard men; Helen a victim of Henry's sadism; and Henry a victim of his- Jim's- hatred. Jim plans coldly his own demise (one never believes in it)- and the story is his confession, as he sets out the complex emotional interplay against the sultry background of the jungle and the native life. The book is more than a straight story, for Cloete has tried to convey the philosophy of remoteness, of the white man against the jungle, of the great brooding mystery that is Africa.

Pub Date: Aug. 20, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1956

Categories: FICTION