The African Queen

The most popular of the novels of the prolific British writer, whose Horatio Hornblower saga is one of the most enduring naval yarns of modern times. Later made by John Huston into a film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, it describes the unlikely romance between Rosa Sayer, an English missionary, and Mr. Allnut, the skipper of a dilapidated steam launch on the Uganda River during the First World War. Sayer and Allnut journey downriver through enemy waters to blow up a German warship and fall in love in the midst of their hardships and dangers. The novel is, among other things, a spoof of traditional adventure stories. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.