Ziska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul

One of the first bestsellers in history. A famous French painter, love-struck Scotsman, and mysterious Egyptian princess form a love triangle replete with mystery, tourists, hieroglyphs, revenge, and day trips to the pyramids, leading to an inevitable dark ending...Marie Corelli, the Victorian novelist beloved of Gladstone, Churchill and Victoria herself, topped the bestseller charts through her whole career. This tale of romance, mystery, and foolish tourism was published in 1897, the same year in which Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. In her inimitable style, she weaves together dark romance, the paranormal, savage social commentary, ridiculous but entirely believable characters, and more in an energetic ride through the 'Society Set' as they take the season in Cairo.The world most famous French painter, introduced in a sashing Bedouin chief's outfit... a noble Scots lord, and his gentle sister, who the painter threw aside... a professor who sees beyond the veil of illusion to the real, reincarnating, souls of people... a happy mutton-dressed-as-lamb, pretending to be decades younger and sprightlier than when her husband lived... a newspaper proprietor and his desperately status-seeking wife and 'girls'... together, they must discover the secrets of the Princess Ziska, who seems to know far more than any other about the ancient days of Egypt, especially of the warrior king Araxes and his ill-fated harm-dancer, Ziska-Charmazel.A tale of love, passion, revenge, reincarnation and a superbly written cast of characters that will bring constant laughs, reflections and shivers. Read more