C. S. Godshalk — Kalimantaan

Abacus 1999 Paperback, 472pp. KALIMANTAAN - the old name for Borneo - is an epic novel about the founding of a small empire by an extraordinary man and a handful of his followers. It is also a beautifully written story about love surviving in the most hostile of circumstances. It is 1850 and a young Englishman, Gideon Barr, arrives in Borneo; within 10 years he has conquered an area the size of England and Wales, ruling through armies of tribal head-hunters. This is the story of Victorian social values superimposed on one of the most violent cultures on earth, of tenderness amid extreme brutality, and of a remarkable tribe of fugitives, missionaries, and romantics drawn to this remote outpost of the world. But the personal cost to Barr is enormous - he and his lovely wife, Amelia, lose three children to cholera and finally she has to return home to ensure the safety of their last surviving child. Owner's Name inside. (ISBN: 9780349110691). Good.