I saw this book recommended on twitter as an exciting and fun adventure story, with some romantic elements, so it seemed the perfect book to read to vary what I’ve been reading recently.
The story begins in 1898 when Eleanora Mallory (Ellie) is fired from her job at the Public Record Office. Despite having a University degree, she has never been valued as much as the male staff, and when her boss learns that she was arrested for taking part in a suffragette rally, he decides it is time to ask her to leave. Before she goes, Ellie finds herself drawn to a strange book within the office. She takes it with her and discovers an ancient artefact and a map to a mysterious lost city hidden within it.
When Ellie finds herself pursued and threatened by the ominous Professor Dawson and his even more sinister associate, Jacobs, she decides that rather than let the map fall into their posession, she will follow it herself, in hopes of making a significant archaeological discovery. Under an assumed name, she travels to Belize, to find a guide and begin her adventure.
On arrival in Belize, Ellie finds that engaging a guide to take her, a young woman, into the jungle, more difficult than expected. She also encounters Adam Bates, an infuriating American surveyor and map-maker who happens to be staying at the same hotel, and who tries to come to her rescue when she encounters a snake. Things take a turn for the dangerous with the arrival of Dawson and Jacobs, who intend to steal the map and get rid of Ellie; so she adopts a disguise and reluctantly agrees to engage Adam Bates as her guide on her journey into the jungle.
Ellie’s journey into the jungle in search of the hidden city contains many dangers, and she must rely on Bates more than she wants to in order to survive. When they are captured by Dawson and Jacobs who have mounted their own expedition, Ellie and Bates must play along to ensure their survival as they reach the dangerous city, with its unusual and threatening artefacts.
This book was great fun to read. It was fairly predictable in terms of the relationship between Ellie and Bates progressing from animosity to romance, but that didn’t really ruin the story; a little predictability can be a good thing at times.
The adventure plot was fast moving and contained plenty of peril, especially as Ellie and Bates move through a series of ever more challenging caves towards the end of the book. There are lots of similarities with the Indiana Jones films, but again this adds to the fun, adventurous feeling of the story.
If anything, I felt like I’d like a little more detail at the end of the story about what happened next; it seemed to end a little abruptly. But again, there was something very film like about the ending. I suppose it leaves it open for possible sequels or to become part of series.
A light-hearted adventure read in a Victorian-setting; this book was an engaging read to pass a few hours with.
Returning to Reading 