Author:Aphra Behn
When Prince Oroonoko’s passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko’s noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn’s visit to Surinam, Oroonoko (1688) reflects the author’s romantic view of Native Americans as simple, superior peoples ‘in the first state of innocence, before men knew how to sin’. The novel also reveals Behn’s ambiguous attitude to African slavery – while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England’s power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.
'Brutal, bloody and thoroughly gripping - Pressfield has an amazing grasp of the savage mind, and the precarious nature of civilization'
—— Diana Gabaldon'Pressfield writes with a quality and style akin to classical legend...a powerful elegy to a world that wasn't to be...a profound dialogue between civilization and "savagery"...A joy to read'
—— John WhitbournAn emotional and moving epic you won't forget in a hurry
—— Woman's WeeklyOne of the most brilliantly sustained and focused pieces of satire I've ever read
—— Douglas AdamsKiller prose...a viciously funny satire that also works as a tongue-in-cheek thriller
—— The Sunday TimesHere is a fine Iliad for our times, to be read with great pleasure
—— Philip Howard , The Times