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Anton Rider #2
A Cafe on the Nile
East Africa, 1935. A nation sits at the brink of war, a city is fraught with conspiracy, and at the Cataract Café in Cairo, a colorful cast of characters - professional hunter Anton Rider, his estranged wife and her Italian lover, the pampered American twins Bernadette and Harriet Mills, a German freebooter who has stolen a fortune in silver from the Italian army, the Goan dwarf and café proprietor Olivio Alevado - gathers to gamble with destiny.
466 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
98 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Bartle Bull
19 books41 followersBartle Bull was born in London and educated at Harvard and at Magdalen College, Oxford. A student of the China coast since he first worked in Hong Kong over thirty years ago, he is a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. He is the author of Safari: A chronicle of Adventure and the novels The White Rhino Hotel, A Cafe on the Nile, and The Devil's Oasis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
February 1, 2025
A Café on the Nile is the second novel in the Anton Rider series. It brings back to the fore many of the characters from The White Rhino Hotel as well as introduces to the reader, a number of new and emerging characters who make this an epic novel.
The year is 1935. War looms over the horizon in East Africa with Italy poised to invade and conquer Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), thus erasing the shame of its 1896 defeat there by the forces of Emperor Menelik at Adowa. There is a gathering of various personages at the Cataract Café, a swank establishment situated on the Nile in Cairo, owned and operated by the Goian dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alavedo (last seen in The White Rhino Hotel when he worked for an English lord for many years in a hotel in Nairobi). Among them is Anton Rider, a British expatriate and hunter who makes his living from organizing and leading safaris for rich clients; his estranged Welsh wife Gwenn and their 2 young sons; Gwenn's lover Lorenzo Grimaldi, a colonel in Italy's Regia Aeronautica (air force) tasked with helping to ensure a swift triumph for Italian arms in the war soon to come; two wealthy and pampered sisters from the U.S. (both identical twins - Bernadette and Harriet Mills) recently arrived in Egypt with Bernadette's fiance to be part of a safari in Abyssinia led by Rider himself; Lord Penfold, Olivio's former boss who is down on his luck; and Ernst von Decken, an old acquaintance of Rider, who is a gambler with a restless spirit set on making himself rich at the expense of the Italians and so restore for himself a stable, comfortable life he had known before World War I when he lived with his father in what was German East Africa (Tanzania).
What begins as a routine safari for Rider and his party in Abyssinia soon develops into a fight for survival as they find themselves swept up in the chaos created by the Italian invasion. Gwenn, who had been in a relationship with Colonel Grimaldi while studying to be a doctor, has volunteered to be part of a Red Cross medical staff in Abyssinia, whose role was to provide medical services there for its people. So it is that the destinies of Rider, Gwenn, the Mills Twins, Grimaldi, and von Decken are brought together in Abyssinia as that nation struggles to overcome Italian forces set on conquering it, not above using the dropping of poison gas by Italian bombers on civilians as a way of ensuring a swift victory for Mussolini in his quest to establish a Greater Italian East Africa.
Olivio, too, has his own scrapes with tragedy and death as he seeks to build upon the wealth and financial security he has striven for years to establish and maintain for himself and his friends Rider, Gwenn, and Lord Penfold.
While this novel is packed with adventure and excitement, it is not for the squeamish at heart. I was left breathless after reading it. Soon, I'll be off to read the third novel in the series.
The year is 1935. War looms over the horizon in East Africa with Italy poised to invade and conquer Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), thus erasing the shame of its 1896 defeat there by the forces of Emperor Menelik at Adowa. There is a gathering of various personages at the Cataract Café, a swank establishment situated on the Nile in Cairo, owned and operated by the Goian dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alavedo (last seen in The White Rhino Hotel when he worked for an English lord for many years in a hotel in Nairobi). Among them is Anton Rider, a British expatriate and hunter who makes his living from organizing and leading safaris for rich clients; his estranged Welsh wife Gwenn and their 2 young sons; Gwenn's lover Lorenzo Grimaldi, a colonel in Italy's Regia Aeronautica (air force) tasked with helping to ensure a swift triumph for Italian arms in the war soon to come; two wealthy and pampered sisters from the U.S. (both identical twins - Bernadette and Harriet Mills) recently arrived in Egypt with Bernadette's fiance to be part of a safari in Abyssinia led by Rider himself; Lord Penfold, Olivio's former boss who is down on his luck; and Ernst von Decken, an old acquaintance of Rider, who is a gambler with a restless spirit set on making himself rich at the expense of the Italians and so restore for himself a stable, comfortable life he had known before World War I when he lived with his father in what was German East Africa (Tanzania).
What begins as a routine safari for Rider and his party in Abyssinia soon develops into a fight for survival as they find themselves swept up in the chaos created by the Italian invasion. Gwenn, who had been in a relationship with Colonel Grimaldi while studying to be a doctor, has volunteered to be part of a Red Cross medical staff in Abyssinia, whose role was to provide medical services there for its people. So it is that the destinies of Rider, Gwenn, the Mills Twins, Grimaldi, and von Decken are brought together in Abyssinia as that nation struggles to overcome Italian forces set on conquering it, not above using the dropping of poison gas by Italian bombers on civilians as a way of ensuring a swift victory for Mussolini in his quest to establish a Greater Italian East Africa.
Olivio, too, has his own scrapes with tragedy and death as he seeks to build upon the wealth and financial security he has striven for years to establish and maintain for himself and his friends Rider, Gwenn, and Lord Penfold.
While this novel is packed with adventure and excitement, it is not for the squeamish at heart. I was left breathless after reading it. Soon, I'll be off to read the third novel in the series.
October 18, 2007
Could make a good movie. War, violence, romance, sex, exotic locals and vintage aircraft! Also a good reminder of the lead up to WWII and why this area of Africa continues to have problems.
October 21, 2015
3.5 but rounded up this time. Great story but pretty sexist when writing about women or even from the woman's perspective.
October 16, 2024
The second in the Anton Rider tetralogy set more than a decade later during the start of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. A bit slow going in the beginning, the novel starts in Cairo where the dwarf Olivio owns the cafe of the title and the main characters gather.
The novel follows a few threads - Anton's safari in Ethiopia with two rich American twin girls out for adventure and fun and the artist fiance of one of them, Gwen's journey to keep her two sons fed and educated at all costs while she pursues her dream medical career, Ernst' scheme to swindle the Italians and get himself a fortune, Olivio and Lord Penfold schemes to get rich buying pieces of desert that will get irrigated under the Egyptian government plans to expand their agriculture and (new series character) Enzo Grimaldi, colonel aviator in the Italian invasion force and longtime lover and protector of Gwen who left Anton once their Kenyan estate failed and Anton refused to leave his nomadic safari organizer and guide life, Enzo who is outraged that Gwen plans to go to Ethiopia in a Red Cross uniform to help the natives if/when the Italians invade.
Most of the narratives are excellent - only Olivio's quest for riches and to extend his life (he is 50 which is very ancient for a person with his disabilities and he hires a German-Swiss expert to help him live longer) are less interesting, while unexpectedly Enzo's journey (among other things he has to babysit Mussolini's young sons who want to be aviators, obfuscate the Italian use of toxic gases against the Ethiopians and eliminate any credible witnesses like western aid workers) is very interesting as the colonel, brutal and a believer in Italian destiny to rule in Africa, has also a moral code of his own as opposed to some of his fascist officers who are just brutal.
The safari part and the tension between the twins and Anton is also excellent with memorable scenes like when the twins fight for the right to spy on Anton making love with his Portuguese "contesse" friend from the last book whom he meets by chance during their journey, while Ernst' monomaniacal goal to get a fortune from the Italian pay chests lead him to interesting encounters, including a stint as civet feeder at an island monastery and a grudge to the death ongoing fight with colonel Grimaldi who of course wants to recover the money...
And so it goes, alternating between the narratives, with some more energetic than others, so the book reads somewhat in a start, stop, start again manner but it is definitely worth. No sugarcoating of the difficult life in the bush, of the hideous brutality of war and of the lengths people go for money and power, with tragedy and triumph and with no one coming unscathed from their experiences, if of course they survive it...
Highly recommended and even better than White Rhino in many ways
The novel follows a few threads - Anton's safari in Ethiopia with two rich American twin girls out for adventure and fun and the artist fiance of one of them, Gwen's journey to keep her two sons fed and educated at all costs while she pursues her dream medical career, Ernst' scheme to swindle the Italians and get himself a fortune, Olivio and Lord Penfold schemes to get rich buying pieces of desert that will get irrigated under the Egyptian government plans to expand their agriculture and (new series character) Enzo Grimaldi, colonel aviator in the Italian invasion force and longtime lover and protector of Gwen who left Anton once their Kenyan estate failed and Anton refused to leave his nomadic safari organizer and guide life, Enzo who is outraged that Gwen plans to go to Ethiopia in a Red Cross uniform to help the natives if/when the Italians invade.
Most of the narratives are excellent - only Olivio's quest for riches and to extend his life (he is 50 which is very ancient for a person with his disabilities and he hires a German-Swiss expert to help him live longer) are less interesting, while unexpectedly Enzo's journey (among other things he has to babysit Mussolini's young sons who want to be aviators, obfuscate the Italian use of toxic gases against the Ethiopians and eliminate any credible witnesses like western aid workers) is very interesting as the colonel, brutal and a believer in Italian destiny to rule in Africa, has also a moral code of his own as opposed to some of his fascist officers who are just brutal.
The safari part and the tension between the twins and Anton is also excellent with memorable scenes like when the twins fight for the right to spy on Anton making love with his Portuguese "contesse" friend from the last book whom he meets by chance during their journey, while Ernst' monomaniacal goal to get a fortune from the Italian pay chests lead him to interesting encounters, including a stint as civet feeder at an island monastery and a grudge to the death ongoing fight with colonel Grimaldi who of course wants to recover the money...
And so it goes, alternating between the narratives, with some more energetic than others, so the book reads somewhat in a start, stop, start again manner but it is definitely worth. No sugarcoating of the difficult life in the bush, of the hideous brutality of war and of the lengths people go for money and power, with tragedy and triumph and with no one coming unscathed from their experiences, if of course they survive it...
Highly recommended and even better than White Rhino in many ways
December 5, 2024
Early this year I picked up the first book in the "Anton Rider" series to scratch my itch for historical adventure fiction. This next in the series takes place about 15 years later, in 1935. Our hero is now a 35-year-old safari guide in East Africa, estranged from his Welsh wife and their children. She lives in Cairo as the "guest" of an Italian air force officer and is trying to complete her medical training to become a surgeon. Also in Cairo is Olivio Alevado, the Goan dwarf major domo from the previous book whose mind for money and strategy has resulted in him becoming a wealthy and influential businessman and proprietor of the titular floating cafe and nightclub.
As in the first book, the story draws heavily upon historical events, especially the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Rider's plotline involves leading some wealthy American sisters on a safari that gets tangled up in the Italian war and use of poison gas, resulting in a harrowing cat and mouse game as they are chased by Italian paratroopers. Also roaming the countryside is Anton's old German pal, Ernst, who has a scheme to steal several crates of silver coins from the Italian army payroll so that he can buy his family's old farm back. (His storyline is actually the most entertaining, involving aerial combat, an underwater salvage, and a group of Coptic monks.) Lastly, there is the dwarf, who is trying to purchase plots of lands along the Nile delta in anticipation of new irrigation plans and impending world war. This involves intrigue from the lowest back alleys to the palace, and all manner of cunning foes.
As in the first book, there's a lot going on, and plenty of moments where the suspension of disbelief is sorely tested. Once again, there's a lot of cringey sexual content that's best glossed over, but readers who enjoy historical adventure yarns and interested in the setting should check it out. Some of the relationships won't make much sense without having read the first book though, so start there.
As in the first book, the story draws heavily upon historical events, especially the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Rider's plotline involves leading some wealthy American sisters on a safari that gets tangled up in the Italian war and use of poison gas, resulting in a harrowing cat and mouse game as they are chased by Italian paratroopers. Also roaming the countryside is Anton's old German pal, Ernst, who has a scheme to steal several crates of silver coins from the Italian army payroll so that he can buy his family's old farm back. (His storyline is actually the most entertaining, involving aerial combat, an underwater salvage, and a group of Coptic monks.) Lastly, there is the dwarf, who is trying to purchase plots of lands along the Nile delta in anticipation of new irrigation plans and impending world war. This involves intrigue from the lowest back alleys to the palace, and all manner of cunning foes.
As in the first book, there's a lot going on, and plenty of moments where the suspension of disbelief is sorely tested. Once again, there's a lot of cringey sexual content that's best glossed over, but readers who enjoy historical adventure yarns and interested in the setting should check it out. Some of the relationships won't make much sense without having read the first book though, so start there.
September 6, 2024
It took a while for me to get into this book. It wasn’t until about halfway through that I became interested enough in the characters to care about what happened to them. I also had to get used to the author’s writing style. The book is densely descriptive, saturated with details. Every scene was described in such minute detail that at times I felt it tedious to read. But once I got used to it, I was able to sink deeper into the story and appreciate the vivid and colorful world the author created.
There are about four separate storylines that weave in and out of each other—a midget cafe owner, a white hunter and his safari team, a German fortune seeker and an Italian colonel who has taken up with the hunter’s wife. Towards the end, three of the storylines converge in a somewhat contrived and fantastical sort of way, though still amusing. The safari storyline was by far my favorite and the one I latched onto the quickest.
For those who are squeamish, be warned, there is a fair amount of gore, violence and cruelty involved, as this book is about war after all.
Although A Cafe on the Nile is set in Cairo and parts of East Africa, none of the characters from these regions have a deep storyline. They are all supporting characters with only cursory glances into their lives. I wondered more about them. It would have been interesting to learn more about Egyptian and Ethiopian culture by way of a few characters who were more complex and developed.
All in all, I did find some of the characters interesting, and a good portion of the action entertaining. I respect the author’s imagination and research of the time period to write this book. It’s possible I may read another book by this author.
There are about four separate storylines that weave in and out of each other—a midget cafe owner, a white hunter and his safari team, a German fortune seeker and an Italian colonel who has taken up with the hunter’s wife. Towards the end, three of the storylines converge in a somewhat contrived and fantastical sort of way, though still amusing. The safari storyline was by far my favorite and the one I latched onto the quickest.
For those who are squeamish, be warned, there is a fair amount of gore, violence and cruelty involved, as this book is about war after all.
Although A Cafe on the Nile is set in Cairo and parts of East Africa, none of the characters from these regions have a deep storyline. They are all supporting characters with only cursory glances into their lives. I wondered more about them. It would have been interesting to learn more about Egyptian and Ethiopian culture by way of a few characters who were more complex and developed.
All in all, I did find some of the characters interesting, and a good portion of the action entertaining. I respect the author’s imagination and research of the time period to write this book. It’s possible I may read another book by this author.
September 9, 2024
I like the character development - the characters were so interesting, different and the story historical. An interesting time period and exotic place which were perfect for capturing my interest. Being an animal welfare person and somewhat of a pacifist I had a hard time with the hunting, and the horrors of war. It was based on history which I love and found the time fascinating but this was a hard read at times for me. Also a lot of provocative sex. I felt the end got rushed considering the building up and set up of the characters, but still very interesting. I did set it down a few times, not because the writing wasn't good, and I always picked it back up because I wanted to know what happened, but because the difficult topics.
January 26, 2026
A Cafe on the Nile by Bartle Bull is the second book of the Anton Rider adventure series set in Africa. Just like the first book, The White Rhino Hotel, reading A Cafe on the Nile is an ideal escape into a world of high adventure, heroes and villains, deceit, loyalty, romance. The audio version is 26 hours (!) long - a wonderful escape, and a fascinating education about the early-days ramp-up to WWII in Africa.
Be sure to read the first book (The White Rhino Hotel) before this one, to learn the primary characters background and relationships; what brought them to Africa and what transpired in Kenya.
Anton was raised as a gypsy. He needs to be on the move, guiding safaris - not settled down eking out a living on a struggling farm. Yet he loves his wife Gwen with all his heart; desperately misses her and their sons. At what age, Anton mused, did regrets begin to outweigh hopes? Anton's current safari customers are wealthy twins, Harriet and Bernadette, and Bernadette's fiancé Charles.
Gwenn has left the farm in Kenya to study medicine. She's already a skilled nurse, continuing her studies to become a surgeon. She's found a protector (and home for her boys) with Lorenzo Grimaldi, an Italian military officer. But of course her true - her only - love is Anton.
Dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alevado, scarred survivor from the fire at The White Rhino Hotel, owns his own lucrative business, the Cataract Cafe on the Nile. A proud father of eight daughters, he hopes his wife's next baby will be a son.
So begins a tremendous adventure (and struggle for survival) in Egypt, Abyssinia and Kenya, closely entangled with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
If you didn't love this book all the way through, the very last sentence will win your heart.
Be sure to read the first book (The White Rhino Hotel) before this one, to learn the primary characters background and relationships; what brought them to Africa and what transpired in Kenya.
Anton was raised as a gypsy. He needs to be on the move, guiding safaris - not settled down eking out a living on a struggling farm. Yet he loves his wife Gwen with all his heart; desperately misses her and their sons. At what age, Anton mused, did regrets begin to outweigh hopes? Anton's current safari customers are wealthy twins, Harriet and Bernadette, and Bernadette's fiancé Charles.
Gwenn has left the farm in Kenya to study medicine. She's already a skilled nurse, continuing her studies to become a surgeon. She's found a protector (and home for her boys) with Lorenzo Grimaldi, an Italian military officer. But of course her true - her only - love is Anton.
Dwarf Olivio Fonseca Alevado, scarred survivor from the fire at The White Rhino Hotel, owns his own lucrative business, the Cataract Cafe on the Nile. A proud father of eight daughters, he hopes his wife's next baby will be a son.
So begins a tremendous adventure (and struggle for survival) in Egypt, Abyssinia and Kenya, closely entangled with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
If you didn't love this book all the way through, the very last sentence will win your heart.
April 21, 2020
This was a splendid read....plenty of historical and geographical detail weaved into the story of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and Anton Rider’s safari adventure. Character development through parallel stories of each personality all came together for an exciting finish.
Olivio, Grimmaldi, Harriet / Bernadette, Anton and Gwenn.....captivating stories, fun read!
Olivio, Grimmaldi, Harriet / Bernadette, Anton and Gwenn.....captivating stories, fun read!
September 8, 2023
Outstanding historical fiction set in a place and time not widely written about - Egypt and Ethiopia in the 1930s. A range of colorful characters, an action-packed plot, and gritty violence and sex make this a great read. Not for those with weak stomachs. (Human and animal cruelty is pervasive.)
December 9, 2018
Interesting time period and interesting, flawed characters but gory even for me and the ending was very rushed and unsatisfying.
February 16, 2019
Terrific...a panoramic view of Africa during the early 20th Century. A series...read in order!
January 31, 2021
An era in Egypt you don't read about much...a good lively story. End up reading all of Bull's books.
November 30, 2023
Wildly adventurous. Brutal war scenes, big game hunting, betrayal, love, lust, torture... A story as big and dramatic as the continent it is set upon. Not for the faint of heart.
February 16, 2024
Fans of The White Rhino Hotel will love this. Lord, I wish they made movies this exciting and colorful. Total escapism.
October 19, 2016
Pretty good read, but gets a bit gruesome in places.
February 12, 2024
Bartle Bull's novels are a throwback to a different era, closer to James Clavell, Wilbur Smith, and Rudyard Kipling than to many of the novels being published today. With "A Cafe on the Nile," Bull follows up on his cast of characters we first saw in "The White Rhino Hotel." The action has moved from Kenya to Egypt, and some roles have changed, but Bull's characters are now facing the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in the mid-1930s.
As one can expect with Bull, heroes and villains play for the highest stakes in love, war, and business in colonial Africa. To many, Bull's stories are an antiquated throwback to the ugly colonial era where Europeans treated Africa as a playground to be exploited, and the majority of his primary characters are European rather than African. If those are barriers to entry for you to read Bull's books, you should be aware of this before investing your time and money in buying the books.
If you do take the plunge, you will find that Bull writes amazing page-turners with complex characters fighting for the highest stakes. The leading protagonist, Anton Rider, is still married to his beloved Gwenn, but the marriage is in trouble. Their Kenyan farm, won with so much effort in the first book, has essentially failed. Rider now leads safaris, and he's quite good at it, but he's also fallen into bed with several of the women who have hired him. Gwenn, still working toward her dream of becoming a doctor, has relocated to Cairo with her two sons, and she is having an affair with an Italian pilot. That pilot, Lorenzo Grimaldi, is in Africa to lead the Italian Air Force in its campaign against the Abyssinians in Italy's effort to expand its empire . . . an effort in which the Italians are willing to use illegal gas weapons despite risking world condemnation.
At the same time, British gentleman Adam Penfold continues to slide into polite poverty and obscurity, only to be saved by his friend, Olivio Alevado, who worked for Penfold in the White Rhino Hotel and who now runs the Cataract Cafe, a floating den of pleasures and the inspiration for the book's title. Alevado, the illegitimate Goan son of a bishop, remains perhaps the most intriguing character, defying his diminutive stature by bringing the sharpest mind to any dispute (and also having a ruthless streak a mile wide).
Bull keeps a dizzying number of plots, seductions, gunfights, animal attacks, and captivating visuals of the African landscape going. This is a long book, but it is a page turner in the best sense of the word. Bloody and sexy, this is not a book for children, but it is a great adventure in the Indiana Jones sense of the word.
Highly recommended.
As one can expect with Bull, heroes and villains play for the highest stakes in love, war, and business in colonial Africa. To many, Bull's stories are an antiquated throwback to the ugly colonial era where Europeans treated Africa as a playground to be exploited, and the majority of his primary characters are European rather than African. If those are barriers to entry for you to read Bull's books, you should be aware of this before investing your time and money in buying the books.
If you do take the plunge, you will find that Bull writes amazing page-turners with complex characters fighting for the highest stakes. The leading protagonist, Anton Rider, is still married to his beloved Gwenn, but the marriage is in trouble. Their Kenyan farm, won with so much effort in the first book, has essentially failed. Rider now leads safaris, and he's quite good at it, but he's also fallen into bed with several of the women who have hired him. Gwenn, still working toward her dream of becoming a doctor, has relocated to Cairo with her two sons, and she is having an affair with an Italian pilot. That pilot, Lorenzo Grimaldi, is in Africa to lead the Italian Air Force in its campaign against the Abyssinians in Italy's effort to expand its empire . . . an effort in which the Italians are willing to use illegal gas weapons despite risking world condemnation.
At the same time, British gentleman Adam Penfold continues to slide into polite poverty and obscurity, only to be saved by his friend, Olivio Alevado, who worked for Penfold in the White Rhino Hotel and who now runs the Cataract Cafe, a floating den of pleasures and the inspiration for the book's title. Alevado, the illegitimate Goan son of a bishop, remains perhaps the most intriguing character, defying his diminutive stature by bringing the sharpest mind to any dispute (and also having a ruthless streak a mile wide).
Bull keeps a dizzying number of plots, seductions, gunfights, animal attacks, and captivating visuals of the African landscape going. This is a long book, but it is a page turner in the best sense of the word. Bloody and sexy, this is not a book for children, but it is a great adventure in the Indiana Jones sense of the word.
Highly recommended.
August 19, 2007
I have been reading so much historical fiction and history I decided to try an actual novel. I did not stray entirely from my historical fiction bias however as this book is set in Africa at the beginning of world war II and has the Italian invasion of Abyssinia as a major background event. That said the book if full of colorful characters and unusual events along with romance and tragedy. So what else could anyone want? Well to begin with this baby is long, 465 pages, and it is not long in a good way. The author knows a lot about Africa and hunting and geography but enough already. Also one of the main characters is a dwarf and a good deal of the book is about dwarfism, treating dwarfism, the complications of dwarfism, well you get the picture. If this gentleman's physical status was crucial to the story well OK but as it was not there was a definite freak show element to all of this. All of the above is accomplished with little or no sense of humor much less irony. I finished the book but will acknowledge some skimming towards the end. So I am off to a new Christopher Moore book where that even if I don't like the book there will be some laughs.
August 17, 2010
This novel is historical fiction set in 1935 during the Italian invasion of East Africa, specifically Abyssinia (Ethiopia today), which lead up to the beginning of WWII. The story begins in Cairo at the Cataract Cafe owned by Olivio Fonsca Alavedo, a dwarf from Goa. Reminds me of Rick's place in Casablanca! All the memorable characters which frequent the Cafe turn up later in the thick of the war. We have a professional safari hunter, his estranged wife, her Italian lover, pampered American twins, an American artist, an English Lord, a German who will steel a fortune in silver from the Italian army. A truly excellent adventure with romance. Bull is a very descriptive writer and made me squeamish at times with too many details of happenings in the jungle and Cairo. Also, maybe too much information on dwarfism!! It was slow reading at first, but towards the end I couldn't put it down especially when the Italians were chasing the people on safari to retrieve their silver and film showing the Italians using poisonous gas on the enemy. A good read but slow.
October 26, 2013
'A Cafe on the Nile' was a great adventure book, written in much the same manner as Ken Follett's Century Trilogy ('Fall of Giants' & 'Winter of the World'). It follows multiple characters whose lives & paths intertwine, taking place primarily in Egypt, along the Nile, and in Abyssinia, or what we know as Ethiopia. The time was pre-WWII, in the 1930s, and the Italians were looking to conquer and colonize the country. Interesting fact is that Ethiopia & Liberia were the only two African countries that were never fully colonized by European countries, and that Abyssinia was the last country to practice formal slavery on a widespread basis. If you're looking for a good adventure book to read, this one would fill the bill.
September 4, 2014
I read this so long ago that I hardly remember it. It was long before my Goodreads.com days so I didn't write my own review. The following review is from the 2007 PageADay Book Lover's Calendar:
The Critics Rave
“A cupful of Casablanca, a dollop of Isak Dinesen, a pinch of Indiana Jones.”USA Today
“Breathtaking...packed with daring exploits and sinister intrigues, with larger-than-life characters and exotic locales.”Orlando Sentinel
“You finish this book almost out of breath.”The New York Times
The Cataract Café is the Nile’s answer to Rick’s. It’s the brink of World War II, and everybody comes here, bringing romance, intrigue, and adventure. A glamorous, engrossing, old-fashioned yarn.
A CAFÉ ON THE NILE, by Bartle Bull (Caroll & Graf Publishers, 1999)
The Critics Rave
“A cupful of Casablanca, a dollop of Isak Dinesen, a pinch of Indiana Jones.”USA Today
“Breathtaking...packed with daring exploits and sinister intrigues, with larger-than-life characters and exotic locales.”Orlando Sentinel
“You finish this book almost out of breath.”The New York Times
The Cataract Café is the Nile’s answer to Rick’s. It’s the brink of World War II, and everybody comes here, bringing romance, intrigue, and adventure. A glamorous, engrossing, old-fashioned yarn.
A CAFÉ ON THE NILE, by Bartle Bull (Caroll & Graf Publishers, 1999)
February 19, 2010
This was quite a book. It is a large size paperback with 464 pages, which was a find at a used book sale. It starts out in Egypt, in 1935 with a varied cast of characters led by Olivio Fonseca Alavedo, a very interesting dwarf who owns the Cataract Cafe. The war is just beginning, and there is a medical student who is the mistress of an Italian aviator, as well as the wife of a big game hunter, and their two boys. Besides the natives who assist on safari, there is also an avaricious German, Ernst Van Decken. There is a lot of violence and cruelty, as you might expect in wartime, with animals being abused. I skipped those parts, where the animals were mistreated.
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February 5, 2011There were so many outrageous plot lines that I got tired of it by the end. The dwarf having sex with a bunch of hot women? I guess there must be some really weird chicks that want to hump a dwarf, but surely not an unending chain of sensual beauties... I did like that the dwarf was vengeful and caused the smiting of his enemies. But still it is hard to buy a dwarf getting carried around by a huge black guy and ordering all this violence, being "Boss Hogg" or "Don Corleone" of the town. Sooner or later a fifteen year-old would just put him in a 50-pound potato sack and throw him in the river.
September 25, 2011
In this exciting follow-up to White Rhino Hotel, we return to Africa, just at the brink of World War II, with the Italian army advancing and getting ready to pounce, like a crazed jaguar. Anton Rider, the great hunter, is back, along with Olivio, the crafty and business-minded dwarf, who owns and operates the exotic “Café” of the title.
This is a rousing adventure, packed with action, history, sex and war, a nifty cross between “Casablanca” and “Indiana Jones”. The author has had a long time obsession with Africa and it shows in every vivid sentence. This is the 2nd book in a trilogy and I look forward to the next one. Highly recommended.
This is a rousing adventure, packed with action, history, sex and war, a nifty cross between “Casablanca” and “Indiana Jones”. The author has had a long time obsession with Africa and it shows in every vivid sentence. This is the 2nd book in a trilogy and I look forward to the next one. Highly recommended.
Want to read
August 23, 2007from the books a million book lover's calendar august 5th. looks interesting
June 4, 2008
Entretenida novela de aventura; buen contexto histórico de la invasión italiana de Etiopía en los 1930's y el brutal uso de armas químicas.
July 18, 2008
this series is only ok. there is a messed up midget and his 12 year old wife and that always bugs me out in a very bad way
August 2, 2009
A great swashbuckling tale!!! I think everyone should read this one! Its a lot of fun and has some incredible characters!
September 10, 2010
Karin really liked this one, and it's an interesting time period--Africa in the late '30s. Having been to Cairo, I am finding that aspect very interesting.
Want to read
March 16, 2009Found this one at Half-Price for cheap, so I picked it up. I'm enjoying the first book in the series, and this one looks to carry that on.
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