The African Queen

This is not the 1940 version but is based on the edition originally published in 1935 in the US by Little, Brown: Boston, now public domain. The African Queen is a tale replete with vintage Forester drama—unrelenting suspense, reckless heroism, impromptu military manoeuvres, near-death experiences—and a good old-fashioned love story to boot.

As World War I reaches the heart of the African jungle, Charlie Allnutt and Rose Sayer, a dishevelled trader and an English spinster missionary, find themselves thrown together by circumstance. Fighting time, heat, malaria, and bullets, they make their escape on the rickety steamboat The African Queen . . . and hatch their own outrageous military plan.