It's not particularly gripping (I couldn't really read it once I fell in bed) but I'm really glad I read it. S.: 9780760725146: : Books Books Literature & Fiction Genre Fiction Buy new: 22.50 FREE delivery March 10 - 15. That it's a World War I story in a part of the world you don't often read about made it interesting too. I liked mostly that it's such a different kind of story in a unique place. I liked that even though Africa and the river were often Rose's enemy, sometimes, you could see how Africa was helping Rose - letting her become a strong and independent woman, helping her to find a passion for something. I enjoyed the writing - some parts are fast moving and intense, others are slow and rambling, kind of like the river they are trying to navigate. Of course there is love (steamy for the time, I'd imagine) and it's so lovely to watch Rose and Allnut grow and change. We travel down the river with them - with its rapids and bugs, passing by towns full of German soldiers and through nasty swamps. These two completely incompatible characters somehow mesh into this amazing team. Rose, in her patriotic zeal, comes up with the idea to create a 'torpedo' out of some of the supplies left on the Africa Queen.Īnd she wants to travel down the Ulanga river so they can torpedo a giant German warship that patrols a huge lake and be heroes for Britain.Ĭrazy, no? But somehow, the story WORKS. When the German army has conscripted all their native converts and Rose's brother dies, she's left alone until Allnut shows up. Allnut is a man-of-all-work, engineer and 'captain' of the tiny boat The African Queen. She's been in Africa for years, working alongside her brother as his housekeeper and companion.

Rose is the adult sister of a Christian missionary. Have you seen the movie, the one with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart? I remember watching it with my mom several times when I was younger, so when I saw a fabulous old version at a used book sale, I grabbed it.

The African Queen by C.S. Forester