FernFolio

In this final story of Allende’s trilogy, Nadia Santos and Alex Cold travel with his grandmother, Kate Cold, a writer for International Geographic, a photographer and a larger-than-life female pilot named Angie Ninderera into the heart of the African jungle at the behest of Brother Fernando, a Catholic missionary who is looking for two missionaries missing from Ngoubé, the remote jungle village in which they have established a mission school and health centre. When the party is forced to crash land Angie’s plane, they continue their journey into the jungle by canoe and then on foot, learning, as they travel, that the Ngoubé is now controlled by King Kosongo, a cruel despot who rules with the help of Commandant Mbembelé and his mercenaries, and the sorcerer Sombe. They discover that Kosongo and Mbembelé have enslaved the local pygmy tribes, forcing the men to hunt elephant for ivory and to work in their diamond mines while the women and children are held captive in the village. The Bantu inhabitants of the village have submitted to the king’s authority, terrified that any show of resistance will lead to them being thrown into the crocodile ponds.
Alex and Nadia, with the help of the International Geographic team and their human and animal friends, are determined to rescue the pygmies from slavery and to restore justice to Ngoubé. Armed with the prophecy of Mà Bangesé, a voodoo priestess, they know that the only way they will survive the coming ordeal is together.
Forest of the Pygmies is a wonderful story, well worth reading. It offers a glorious view of the interconnectedness of all beings, human, animal and plant, both alive and in the world of the spirits. Allende is a master of the written word; her use of language is rich and textured. A marvelous conclusion to a trilogy that includes The City of the Beasts and The Kingdom of the Golden Dragon.
FernFolio Editor