Whittaker's Wife Author:Harry Bloom This is a novel of dramatic contrasts. The setting is Central Africa-wild, beautiful and remote. The principal character is a woman of ruthless sophistication. The climax of the story is a lion hunt in which the emotions of the hunting party - at first, civilized and controlled - are transformed and intensified by the perilous realities of the h... more »unt itself. Lavinia Whittaker arrives at her Rhodesian ranch with a houseparty of her fashionable Johannesburg hangers-on, determined to escape from the impossible situation in which her deceased husbanc has trapped her. In the course of a few tense days, emotions are aroused and mysteries uncovered that have lain buried for years. Opposed to the glamorous Mrs. Whittaker is Joe Latham, her ranching partner. He is a former employee of her husband's, whose mysterious fall from favor resulted in his exile to the African bush. Latham is quietly determined to resist the rapacious Lavinia, and their struggle for power precipitates a battle royal. The author, Harry Bloom combines superb story-telling with a firsthand knowledge of the African scene. His descriptions of native witchcraft, of wildlife driven to panic by the drought that sweeps through the bush, of the subtle distinctions between ranchers and city dwellers and natives and Europeans, give a fresh authenticity to this exciting novel. Good enough to be issued as a "Book of the month club" edition.« less