Customer Reviews

Daughters of Destiny or; the Girl in the Harem

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Daughters of Destiny was originally published 100 years ago under the pseudonym Schuyler Staunton. This was the name Baum used for 2 of his novels written for an adult audience. It takes place in London and Baluchistan, on the Arabian Sea, which is now part of the countries of Pakistan and Iran. Famous for his children's books about the land of Oz, Baum was excellent at creating uncomplicated and strong characters and developing plots based on their interactions.

This book is no exception. A group of six Americans hires a Baluchi prince in exile to guide them to Baluchistan to negotiate the rights for a railroad. The prince is hoping to gain the throne when the current monarch dies. Their business plans get sidetracked by local intrigue over succession to the throne of the dying king.

Three of the Americans are women: the daughters of the two businessmen, and an aunt. They get swept up in the local affairs and romantic interests blossom. It is their destinies that drive the plot forward.

Baum's characters are either devious and plotting or noble and altruistic, and good wins out over evil in the end. Sadly, his ethnic portrayals are racist and stereotypical which makes this novel an interesting glimpse into the racial bias prevalent at the beginning of the 20th century. A good read for Baum fans and people interested in the portrayal of the Middle East in literature, but this will never be more than fringe literature in our modern culture.

The illustrations by Eric Shanower are well done and capture the essence of Baum's characters. While there is a hardbound edition limited to 250 copies, the complete work is also available in Oz-Story #4, both from Hungry Tiger Press.

What is a romance novel? Is it one of those awfully plentiful Harlequin pulps that clutter corner bookstores? Or is it a book that evokes a past era, an era of swashbuckling pirates and maidens in distress, knights and princesses and faraway lands? Hungry Tiger Press' latest offering tends to fall more under the latter definition.

Daughters of Destiny was first published by the Reilly & Britton Company of Chicago in 1905, under L. Frank Baum's pseudonym, Schuyler Staunton. As stated in a disclaimer in the book, "The novel contains a number of racial and religious stereotypes that may be considered offensive today." It's important to take note of that as you read this book, as it was written for readers of a bygone era. The book represents a gem of the time, a moment in history, as it were. A surprising instance, for example, occurs when the Persian physician is described as rolling a cigarette in the vicinity of his dying patient. Today, no practitioner of the Hippocratic Oath would dare do such a thing; but again, this is the Middle East of the early 1900s.

Readers familiar with Baum's fuzzy, friendly and fantastic Oz books will be surprised at the book's content. There's a fair amount of death, intrigue, politics, and of course fighting. I was particularly fascinated by Baum's description of a fight scene involving an alleged pretender to the throne and his escort with several attackers. Baum's description sufficed clearly to describe the action and the intensity, while also describing the mindset and emotion of the combatants.

The story is deftly woven to include the passing Khan of Mekran, his court, his heir, visiting representatives of American investors, a Persian doctor, the Khan's vizier, his scheming daughter, and a motley crew of characters who all add something valid to the plot. The American travelers are on a survey of the country to determine the feasibility of a railway, guided by the exiled "rightful" heir to the throne. Meanwhile, the dying Khan sends for his son, whom he himself has no familiarity with ... and instead receives an imposter attempting to take his place. The Vizier and his daughter plot to prevent the ascension of the Khan's "son," and in the end, events occur to bring the disparate parties together. All manner of revelations are uncovered, and despite several tragedies, the book has a rather enjoyable, ironic, and unexpected ending.

Another of Baum's more appealing talents is how he presents the various characters' viewpoints, revealing each character's inner conflicts, virtues and vices. Indeed, just about everyone from the Vizier's daughter to the son of the American Colonel withholds a vital piece of the overall puzzle that, by novel's end, reveals a sometimes-tragic, sometimes-heroic, and sometimes-marvelously intertwined tale of treachery, lust, loss, victory, gallantry, and romance.

Personally, I found Daughters of Destiny to be a very well written book, with a story that thoroughly drew me into its world. Baum's text is clearly written and resplendent with details that only someone who thoroughly investigated his subject matter could convey. I admit that presenting the book with its original spelling and wording might be confusing to some. Take, for instance, the word "cimeter": the more commonly-accepted spelling is "scimitar," a curved blade common to the area and culture. Nevertheless, the prospective audience for this book should easily recognize the variant spelling.

Eric Shanower's illustrations (which originally accompanied the novel's reproduction in Oz-story 4) are superbly rendered and cleverly illustrate events in the story. Though not profuse, there are enough to give the reader an extra vantage point. Shanower, as well as Baum, obviously spent a great deal of research on the costuming, architecture, and ethnicity of the people in this tale. Every detail is meticulously rendered to show us details that we may overlook as we devour the text. A particular favorite is a drawing of the Vizier's daughter Maie reclining upon a divan with a particularly Mona Lisa-esque quasi-smirk upon her face.

David Maxine's adaptation of Joseph Pierre Nuyttens' frontispiece as a full-color cover adds to the ambience of this volume. Indeed, the entire presentation is attractive, from the use of particular typestyles to the overall design.

Daughters of Destiny is a limited printing of only 250 signed and numbered copies. The original book is rare and highly sought-after. Once this book is sold out, it too will be just as acclaimed a treasure. My advice is to get it now while it's still available. Enjoy the story, enjoy the art, and then treasure it!