In Victorian London, an idealistic young doctor, John Clark, volunteers to join Lord Wolseley’s expedition to Sudan, leaving his highly strung wife, Mary, alone in their house on Barnsbury Street. Wolseley’s mission is to rescue Gen Gordon, who has been holding Khartoum against Muslim forces led by the self-styled Mahdi. After an eight- month siege, food is scarce, morale is low and Gordon’s sanity is slipping away, to the alarm of his young batman, Will. As Wolseley’s army begins the gruelling desert trek from Korti, John feels little kinship with his compadres, and is ill prepared for the visceral reality of battle. Meanwhile, back in London, Mary is feeling increasingly discombobulated; her meagre ration of laudanum, given to her by John to calm her nerves, has run out, and her addiction drives her to venture into the London slums in search of opiates. History tells us the siege of Khartoum ended badly, but the South African author Gillian Slovo gives us the story with sparse and well-defined brushstrokes, bringing the bigger picture down to a more human and compassionate level.
