On his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his father's quest to find this remote race. To find out for himself if the story is true, Leo and his companions set sail for Zanzibar.

A classic Victorian adventure into the realm of the unknown

"She" is Ayesha, the mysterious white queen of a Central African Tribe and the goal of three English gentlemen, who must face shipwreck, fever, and cannibals in their quest to find her hidden realm. First published in 1887, She has enthralled the imaginations of many-from Freud, who prescribed the book to one of his patients, to the generations of readers, who remain fascinated by the book's revealing and fantastic representations of dangerous women, adventuring men, and unexplored Africa.

Available for the first time from Penguin Classics, edited by Patrick Brantlinger, this edition of one of the most famous works of popular literature includes a critical introduction, suggestions for further reading, and explanatory notes.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

“A strange book . . . full of hidden meaning.” —Sigmund Freud