The Iron Snake

by John Gaudet

It is 1897, the London tabloids called the railroad being built across Kenya from Mombasa to Lake Victoria the 'Lunatic Express,' and they are not far off. Alice McConnell, a brave young woman, runs up against the railroad's 'big business' approach as she tries to help villagers take their first steps into the modern era. A woman of spirit, she later helps them fend off an attempt by Germans to wrest control of the colony. The Honorable Geoffrey Brian Scofield Stanford, presumptive fifth Baron of Manchester, friend of the north country African cattle people, married, living separately from his free-wheeling wife, falls in love with Alice. He likes to be called Brian and swears to Heaven he'll change. He intends to become the ideal husband and helpmate, but can he? Caught in the glare of the lamp are the herds of wild animals and the Africans standing, watching, waiting for this Iron Snake to move on and leave them in peace. This is not to be, their lives will change and their land will vanish as certainly as the sun rises tomorrow on a panoramic scene that resembles the dawn of the age of man.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2007