A rich and pompous merchant is plagued by loneliness and misfortune.

First published in 1886-87, H. Rider Haggard's imperial romance follows its English heroes from the quiet rooms of Cambridge to the uncharted interior of Africa in search of a legendary lost city with an ageless white queen. The two men find their way to the ancient city of Kôr, where the beautiful and mysterious Ayesha, "she-who-must-be-obeyed," rules. Despite her cruelty, both men become fascinated by Ayesha, who leads them on a harrowing journey...

Follows the heroine's adventures from seventeenth-century England to the American colonies.