1833 – William Wilberforce dies the week his anti-slavery bill passes through Parliament.
The British Navy are conducting a survey of the Arabian Peninsula where slavery is as rife as ever despite abolition. Zena, a headstrong and determined young Abyssinian beauty has been torn from her remote village, subjected to a tortuous journey and is now being offered for sale in the market of Muscat.Lieutenant James Wellsted is determined that his time on the Peninsula will be the conduit to fame and fortune.
However, all his plans are thrown into disarray when two of his fellow officers go missing while gathering intelligence in the desert.When Zena finds herself the property of Wellsted she accompanies him on a daring rescue mission into forbidding territory.
A rich and epic novel based on three letters found in the John Murray Archive.