PODCAST · arts

Wisdom's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard (1856 - 1925)

by LibriVox

A strange manuscript in an unknown language is found among the effects of the late Professor Horace Holly. Its translator discovers that while in Central Asia, Holly convinced the immortal Ayesha, also known as She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, to write her story - and this is the book they have found. Ayesha, born the daughter of a sheikh in the 4th century BCE, has no interest in the arranged marriage expected of her. She wants power and position of her own. Led by a vision to believe she is the daughter of Isis, she studies esoteric wisdom under the tutelage of the mystic Noot, but her beauty and intelligence make her a constant target in a world where women are still considered little better than possessions. To survive, she must rely on her wits (and perhaps a little divine intervention) in a series of daring escapes and desperate schemes, finding allies where she can. But as she climbs higher in the service of her goddess, a fateful meeting with the warrior-turned-priest Kallikrates leads