Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest

New York: Dover Publications, 1989. Trade Paperback. Unabridged and unaltered republication of the first American edition, published in 1904. Near Fine. Interior pristine. Spine straight, tight and uncreased. Covers clean and bright with slight reading wear. Not from a library. No remainder mark. Not clipped. 315 pages. Laid-in book review from Washington Post Book World.

The curious call of an unseen bird lures a young explorer deeper and deeper into the jungle, where he encounters the source of the siren song - a lovely, half-wild girl with mysterious powers. Thus begins the romance between Abel, a Venezuelan revolutionary hiding among an Indian tribe in the uncharted rain forest of British Guiana, and Rima, who speaks the languages of birds and longs to return to the land of her birth to be reunited with others of her kind. As Abel chases after his secret admirer, she leads him further and further into her invisible trap of love. Then the secret begins to unfold. William Henry Hudson was an English author and naturalist, born in Buenos Aires of American parents. He was a sensitive observer of nature, particularly of birds. In his books he describes plants and animals in a highly personal manner with great force and beauty. The language of "Green Mansions" is exquisite, and the book will be especially intriguing to anyone with an interest in nature, for it is not only a wonderful love story, but also a vivid description of the rain forest and indigenous peoples of the Guianas. The plot and pacing are superb, and Hudson's storytelling is particularly fascinating. Originally published in 1904, this haunting classic is a fascinating link between nineteenth-century Romanticism and modern environmentalism.