BEYOND THE RIVER OF SHAME

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 Seventeen-year-old Florie von Sass is stunned when British explorer Sam Baker thunders the winning bid for her at a slave auction. Even more shocking is when Sam suddenly abandons her. With the Ottoman governor's slave catchers determined to return her to bondage, Florie desperately follows Sam on a haunting and perilous journey from the savage shores of the Black Sea to the uncharted heart of Central Africa. 

 

Sam hadn't planned on attending a slave auction. He was, after all, on his way to unravel the riddle of the Nile River's sources. But seeing the beautiful and proud Florie offered on the auction block strikes a chord deep within, and he calls out the final bid. He quickly realizes that his noble attempt to save her presents a dilemma: the scandal of buying a slave will not only destroy his family and reputation in Victorian-era England, but will jeopardize his dreams of fame.  

 

BEYOND THE RIVER OF SHAME is Ken Czech's fictionalized account of this true story of Sam Baker and the woman he comes to love, and follows this unlikely pair into the depths of unknown Africa where they are soon enmeshed in a struggle against wild beasts, killer diseases, and the horrors of a slave trade that has spread its tentacles to the very headwaters of the Nile. 

 

 

"Fans…of the Victorian era will find this book a gem." – Historical Novels Review

 

"It's a rollicking read … " – Dr. Jim Casada, Sporting Classics Magazine