Allan and the Holy Flower

"Almost from the outset of his career, Sir Rider Haggard has made use of Allan Quatermain both as a hero, and as a chronicler. He took part in his earliest stories, and he is taking part in his latest... As a middle-aged man, he recounts the happenings of a dangerous expedition into the heart of Africa in search of an orchid of wondrous beauty... More is at stake during the progress of the story than the quest of the marvelous orchid. It appears some time after the tale is well under way that the custodian of this sacred floral god of the Pongos is a white woman, and that she may be the vanished wife of John Eversley.