The Hinterlands

by Karen Mercury

The year is 1896. In the vast network of the Niger Delta waterways, where palm oil and blood flow from the hinterlands, the ancient Kingdom of Benin is under siege. Legendary trader and leopard hunter Brendan Donivan battles to protect his adopted homeland’s sacred civilization from the colonial expansion of the British, while balancing his commerce with the whiteman’s world. Life is not exactly easy. And it’s about to get worse. Enter Elle Bowie, New York anthropologist. She says she’s come to study clitoridectomy. She claims the crazy Texan traveling with her, the one whose jungle attire consists wholly of a Stetson, boots, and a gun, is her husband. But Brendan suspects there’s a lot more to the lovely lady’s story than she’s letting on.Brendan, of course, is right. Elle has a lot more on her private agenda than the sexual surgical practices of the Benin women. And she’s about to get herself into a bigger adventure than she’d planned on.Because Mateus, descendant of Portuguese soldiers, who's supposed to be her guide, is a traitorous gnome. The majestic and brutal General Ologboshere, in command of thousands of warriors, has taken an unhealthy shine to her. A passel of bumbling British consular appointees are screwing things up for everybody. But the worst, the absolute worst, is that super-feminist Elle is falling in love. With a guy who wears a skirt, no less. And although he dwells in Benin, land of ritualistic human sacrifice and juju religion, a land about to run red with blood, and although the lives and loves of many hang in the balance in The Hinterlands . . . Brendan's grinning.

388 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Sarah]

"From a land you've never heard of comes a story you'll never forget." This is the first line of this book's description and my immediate thought was, "I know where Benin is, but this might be really good." I was wrong. I still know where Benin is and the story is definitely unforgettable, but for all the wrong reasons.

From the start it required suspension of disbelief A female anthropologist in 1896? Traveling with man who's not her husband, but obediently follows her around and does her bidding? And she knows the word clitorectomy...

I keep waiting to find out they were time travelers or something, anything to explain why they're attitudes are so anachronistic. It just kept getting worse from there. The attitudes of main characters seemed to reflect modern sensibilities. The author's casual use of Edo suggests superior googling skills, but not understand of language or culture. The callous attitude displayed by the main character toward death and torture is appalling.

Then their guide is describe as simian. The interplay between Elle and Rip at the "fetish" house shows a lack of understand of anthropology that makes the claim of Elle's being an anthropologist ludicrous. The tribe they are visiting "crucifies" their criminals and foreigners. The list of subtle and overt racism just began to climb from there.

I can barely believe this book is from this decade. I could never in good conscience recommend this book to someone else. Sure there's some sexy times somewhere in that mess, and yes, I've read some horribly anachronistic "romances" before and managed to get over the ridiculousness, but this book was frankly appalling. I can't believe this book ever got past an agent and made it to a publisher, let alone was actually published. It needs a POC editor in the worst way, but I would feel incredibly sorry for that person at the same time.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for my honest opinion. They might regret that.

[Krista]

I gravitated to The Hinterlands because I really enjoy African historical fiction. Unfortunately I had to make myself read this book since it had been provided to me for an honest review from #NetGalley. #TheHinterlands is an outrageous, farfetched story. There is nothing historically accurate about this book. I'm sorry I couldn't offer a better review.

[Krista]

I gravitated to The Hinterlands because I really enjoy African historical fiction. Unfortunately I had to make myself read this book since it had been provided to me for an honest review from #NetGalley. #TheHinterlands is an outrageous, farfetched story. There is nothing historically accurate about this book. I'm sorry I couldn't offer a better review.

[Janet]

I enjoyed this. It's the characters that really made the story. Elle Bowie is an anthropologist. Her journey and meeting Brendan Donivan is quite a tale.

[Terry]

Great !

I’m not really into history but Karen mercury really got the history down and made it exciting . Brendan and Elle went on a wild adventure .

[Karen Desmond]

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