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The Shadow Of The East
The Shadow of the East is a novel written by E.M. Hull. It is set in the early 20th century and follows the story of a young Englishwoman named Louise L'Estrange. Louise is traveling in Egypt with her father when she meets a mysterious and handsome Arab man named Ahmed Ben Hassan. Despite their cultural differences and the disapproval of her father, Louise falls in love with Ahmed and they begin a passionate affair.However, their happiness is short-lived as Ahmed is soon revealed to be a leader in a rebellion against British rule in Egypt. Louise is torn between her love for Ahmed and her loyalty to her country. As the rebellion grows more violent, Louise must make a difficult decision that will change her life forever.The Shadow of the East is a thrilling and romantic novel that explores themes of love, loyalty, and cultural differences. It is a classic tale of forbidden love set against the backdrop of political turmoil and colonialism in early 20th century Egypt.What folly! And lashing him with her tongue she renewed her fruitless efforts. But Craven scarcely heeded her. His eyes were fixed on the little white face on the pillow, and he was praying desperately that she might be spared to him, that his punishment might not take so terrible a form. For the change in her appalled him. Slight and delicate always, she was now a mere shadow of what she had been. If she died!--he clenched his teeth to keep silent--must he be twice a murderer? O Hara San's blood was on his hands, would hers also--....This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
About the author
E.M. Hull
33 books22 followersSee also Edith Maude Hull.
Edith Maude Henderson was born on 16 August 1880 in the Borough of Hampstead, London, England, UK, the daughter of Katie Thorne, of New Brunswick, Canada, and James Henderson, a shipowner from Liverpool.
As a child she travelled widely with her parents, even visiting Algeria, the setting of her novels. In 1899, she married Percy Winstanley Hull (b. 1869) in London and the couple moved to Derbyshire in the early 1900s. They had a daughter Cecil Winstanley Hull, who also wrote a book entitled 'Six Weeks in Algeria' (1930).
She dabbled at writing fiction in the late 1910s while her husband was away serving in World War I. 'The Sheik', her initial effort, was first published in England in 1919 and quickly became an international blockbuster, placing it among the top ten best sellers for both of the years 1921 and 1922 in the magazine 'Publishers Weekly'.
'The Sheik' quickly sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide. Sales further increased when Paramount released a film version with the same title in 1921 and this launched Rudolph Valentino into cinema immortality as the greatest lover of the silent screen.
She also wrote a follow-up to 'The Sheik', 'The Sons of the Sheik' (1925) and she wrote six other novels of the 'desert romance' variety. In 2005 these novels were still classed by some publishers as 'erotic fiction'!
In addition she wrote a travelogue 'Camping in the Sahara' (1926) that included photographs by her daughter Cecil.
She died at age 66, on 11 February 1947 in Hazelwood, in the parish of Duffield, Derbyshire.
Edith Maude Henderson was born on 16 August 1880 in the Borough of Hampstead, London, England, UK, the daughter of Katie Thorne, of New Brunswick, Canada, and James Henderson, a shipowner from Liverpool.
As a child she travelled widely with her parents, even visiting Algeria, the setting of her novels. In 1899, she married Percy Winstanley Hull (b. 1869) in London and the couple moved to Derbyshire in the early 1900s. They had a daughter Cecil Winstanley Hull, who also wrote a book entitled 'Six Weeks in Algeria' (1930).
She dabbled at writing fiction in the late 1910s while her husband was away serving in World War I. 'The Sheik', her initial effort, was first published in England in 1919 and quickly became an international blockbuster, placing it among the top ten best sellers for both of the years 1921 and 1922 in the magazine 'Publishers Weekly'.
'The Sheik' quickly sold over 1.2 million copies worldwide. Sales further increased when Paramount released a film version with the same title in 1921 and this launched Rudolph Valentino into cinema immortality as the greatest lover of the silent screen.
She also wrote a follow-up to 'The Sheik', 'The Sons of the Sheik' (1925) and she wrote six other novels of the 'desert romance' variety. In 2005 these novels were still classed by some publishers as 'erotic fiction'!
In addition she wrote a travelogue 'Camping in the Sahara' (1926) that included photographs by her daughter Cecil.
She died at age 66, on 11 February 1947 in Hazelwood, in the parish of Duffield, Derbyshire.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 8, 2020
DNF at 60 % but I’m marking it as read. This book was so awful. I can’t believe it was written by the same author who wrote The Sheik.
May 6, 2013
THE SHADOW OF THE EAST by E.M. Hull
The story opens in Japan where the hero Barry Lord Craven has spent the last two years of his decade after wandering the globe. Barry, the reader quickly learns, is from a long line of adventurers and explorers, men who have wanderlust in their blood. Although he despises his own father, a man who abandoned Barry and his mother in favor of foreign travels, he has nevertheless followed in his predecessor's footsteps. This eventually leads to a truly shocking revelation (that I cannot reveal without spoiling the plot) and a tragedy that has a traumatic and far reaching effect on Barry's life.
Directly following this crisis, Barry receives a letter from an old friend who has passed away, requesting that Barry assume guardianship of the friend's daughter who is residing at a French convent. Perceiving this favor as a means of redeeming himself for his sins, Barry accepts the guardianship. He arrives in Paris expecting a child, but discovers a beautiful young woman instead. Thenceforth, the romance slowly unfolds between Barry and Gillian Locke.
There are several noteworthy secondary characters who play pivotal roles, to include Barry's land steward, his Japanese valet who saves his life on several occasions, and his spinster aunt who takes Gillian under her wing. While main protagonists are both sympathetic characters, Barry is very much a tortured hero who sacrifices his personal happiness in an effort to overcome his past. While I would still categorize this as a romance, the love story is really secondary to the hero's journey (in both the literal and figurative sense as the setting shifts from Japan to England and then to the Middle East) and his ultimate redemption.
Although disappointed with the denouement that I felt was too abrupt, I would still recommend THE SHADOW OF THE EAST as a highly engaging escape read for those who enjoy dramatic stories.
NOTE: This title was originally published in 1921 the electronic version is now available for free in the public domain.
The story opens in Japan where the hero Barry Lord Craven has spent the last two years of his decade after wandering the globe. Barry, the reader quickly learns, is from a long line of adventurers and explorers, men who have wanderlust in their blood. Although he despises his own father, a man who abandoned Barry and his mother in favor of foreign travels, he has nevertheless followed in his predecessor's footsteps. This eventually leads to a truly shocking revelation (that I cannot reveal without spoiling the plot) and a tragedy that has a traumatic and far reaching effect on Barry's life.
Directly following this crisis, Barry receives a letter from an old friend who has passed away, requesting that Barry assume guardianship of the friend's daughter who is residing at a French convent. Perceiving this favor as a means of redeeming himself for his sins, Barry accepts the guardianship. He arrives in Paris expecting a child, but discovers a beautiful young woman instead. Thenceforth, the romance slowly unfolds between Barry and Gillian Locke.
There are several noteworthy secondary characters who play pivotal roles, to include Barry's land steward, his Japanese valet who saves his life on several occasions, and his spinster aunt who takes Gillian under her wing. While main protagonists are both sympathetic characters, Barry is very much a tortured hero who sacrifices his personal happiness in an effort to overcome his past. While I would still categorize this as a romance, the love story is really secondary to the hero's journey (in both the literal and figurative sense as the setting shifts from Japan to England and then to the Middle East) and his ultimate redemption.
Although disappointed with the denouement that I felt was too abrupt, I would still recommend THE SHADOW OF THE EAST as a highly engaging escape read for those who enjoy dramatic stories.
NOTE: This title was originally published in 1921 the electronic version is now available for free in the public domain.
March 25, 2015
An English aristocrat living in Yokohama suffers remorse when his Eurasian lover commits suicide after he momentarily deserts her. He gains an unlikely chance for atonement when an old friend nominates him as guardian to his nineteen year old daughter after he dies in poverty.
The girl, Gillian Locke, has been raised in a convent after her dissolute father abandoned her. As guardian, Barry Craven takes his ward to live with him at his family home. Inevitably they grow to love each other, but his sorrow and her sense of debt stand between them.
I have nothing against a repressed romance, but this one would test the patience and toleration of both Mills and Boon, whoever they were. Supposedly in love, the emotional position barry and Gillian adopt to each other is quite ridiculous and they scarcely exchange two words with each other throughout.
Craven is haunted by the 'sin-stained' nature of his relationship with O Hara San, his dead Japanese lady, for by an almighty coincidence they happened to have the same father, but he still marries Gillian despite being unable to become intimate with her because, as he sees it, 'there seemed no other way to save her from herself.'
I or anyone could have thought of at least five other ways, all of which would have been better all around.
Regrettably it takes him three hundred pages to realize how muddle-headed his thinking is, which not even some occasional references to a 'curse of the Cravens' can make sense of.
Waiting for the pair of them to so much as talk to each other was stretched out long beyond the point of tedium before an adventure in Algeria briefly and belatedly broke the monotony.
As romances of the type go it had the saving grace of not being overwritten into the worst excesses of melodrama, but I can't say much more for it.
The girl, Gillian Locke, has been raised in a convent after her dissolute father abandoned her. As guardian, Barry Craven takes his ward to live with him at his family home. Inevitably they grow to love each other, but his sorrow and her sense of debt stand between them.
I have nothing against a repressed romance, but this one would test the patience and toleration of both Mills and Boon, whoever they were. Supposedly in love, the emotional position barry and Gillian adopt to each other is quite ridiculous and they scarcely exchange two words with each other throughout.
Craven is haunted by the 'sin-stained' nature of his relationship with O Hara San, his dead Japanese lady, for by an almighty coincidence they happened to have the same father, but he still marries Gillian despite being unable to become intimate with her because, as he sees it, 'there seemed no other way to save her from herself.'
I or anyone could have thought of at least five other ways, all of which would have been better all around.
Regrettably it takes him three hundred pages to realize how muddle-headed his thinking is, which not even some occasional references to a 'curse of the Cravens' can make sense of.
Waiting for the pair of them to so much as talk to each other was stretched out long beyond the point of tedium before an adventure in Algeria briefly and belatedly broke the monotony.
As romances of the type go it had the saving grace of not being overwritten into the worst excesses of melodrama, but I can't say much more for it.
May 25, 2019
Una lectura emocionante, una historia muy bien trazada y contada. El matrimonio entre la pupila y el tutor es el inicio de la historia, pero la novela es mucho más que todo eso.
Los protagonistas son creíbles, atractivos y sus reacciones se entienden en ese amor apasionado que ambos, por distintas razones, se ocultan. Y es de las pocas historias en que el trauma del personaje está plenamente justificado, y extraordinariamente bien descrito cómo todo ello afecta a su carácter convirtiéndolo en un hombre adusto, distante, aparentemente frío y autopunitivo.
Leí The Sheikh y me gustó mucho, pero creo que está novela incluso más.
Es un clásico, y que nadie diga que es algo pasado de moda porque no es así. Maravillosa novela.
Los protagonistas son creíbles, atractivos y sus reacciones se entienden en ese amor apasionado que ambos, por distintas razones, se ocultan. Y es de las pocas historias en que el trauma del personaje está plenamente justificado, y extraordinariamente bien descrito cómo todo ello afecta a su carácter convirtiéndolo en un hombre adusto, distante, aparentemente frío y autopunitivo.
Leí The Sheikh y me gustó mucho, pero creo que está novela incluso más.
Es un clásico, y que nadie diga que es algo pasado de moda porque no es así. Maravillosa novela.
July 28, 2015
I hated this author's famous The Sheikh, but this book is better, although it could use the removal of the first one or two chapters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews