Product Description

In 1699, Louis XIV of France sent an embassy to the most mysterious of oriental sovereigns, the Negus, or King, of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). Louis' hope was to lure that country into the political and religious orbit of France. Jean-Baptiste Poncet, young apothecary/physician to the pashas of Cairo, is the hero of this romantic epic embroidering upon the known details of that long-forgotten embassy. Selected by the French consul to lead the mission, Poncet travels through the deserts of Egypt and the mountains of Abyssinia to the court of the Negus, thence to Versailles and back again. Along the way he falls madly in love with the consul's daughter, treats the Negus for a mysterious skin ailment, and gains a disastrous audience with the king of France. Winner of France's Prix Goncourt for First Novel and the Prix Mediterranee.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180369 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.com
At the heart of Jean-Christophe Rufin's marvelous first novel is a nugget of truth: in the year 1699, Louis XIV of France sent an embassy to the King of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). From this small fact Rufin has spun a mesmerizing tale of adventure, romance, and political intrigue that is one part Alexandre Dumas and two parts Rafael Sabatini, with just a dash of Brian Moore thrown in for good measure.

The hero of this epic tale is Jean-Baptiste Poncet, a young French doctor who has been practicing medicine without a license in Cairo. Poncet first comes to the notice of the authorities when the French consul in Egypt receives a secret message from a Jesuit priest commanding him in Louis's name to send a diplomatic mission to the king of Abyssinia. Foreigners--especially Christians--have not been welcome in that country since the Jesuits were expelled 50 years before, and a regular delegation would almost certainly be killed. When the consul, Monsieur de Maillet, hears that the Abyssinian monarch requires a doctor, however, he devises a plan to send Poncet both to cure and to convince the king to send a return delegation to Versailles.

Poncet has his own reasons for agreeing to go on this perilous mission: he has fallen in love with de Maillet's beautiful daughter, Alix. Unfortunately, he knows that "within the Frankish colony in Cairo, he was nothing more--whatever pains he took to hide his ancestry--than the son of a servant girl and an unknown man." The only hope he has of gaining the consul's blessing is to win Louis XIV's favor; bringing an Abyssinian embassy to Versailles might just do the trick. Poncet starts out for self-serving reasons; upon meeting King Negus, however, he comes to admire him, and soon finds himself jeopardizing his own future in order to thwart the political intrigues of his countrymen.

Rufin tells this larger-than-life tale with wit, sophistication, and a wholehearted enjoyment that shines through every sentence of this beautifully translated novel. Jean-Baptiste Poncet, a young man who "had been offered every opportunity for sadness and despair, yet ... had decided long ago that he would never succumb to such feelings," is a hero with heart, intelligence, and charm, and the book's many secondary characters are equally well developed. All in all, The Abyssinian marks a delightful literary debut. --Alix Wilber

From Publishers Weekly
French physician Rufin's extensively researched historical novel, winner of both the Prix Mediterran?e and the Prix Goncourt, is a sprawling romance set in the Ottoman east during the time of Louis XIV. Religious rivalries dictate politics in 17th-century Cairo, where the Europeans live in uneasy alliance with the Muslims under Turkish authority. On orders from the Sun King, Monsieur de Maillet, the French consul in Cairo and an exile of the minor nobility, must come up with a scheme to open an embassy in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), a richly endowed country penetrated by the Jesuits 50 years before, though now hostile to Christian powers. A doctor must be sent on the mission, to ingratiate himself with the ailing negus of Abyssinia, and an adventurous young Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Poncet, is found for the job. Poncet is an opportunist: registered as an apothecary, he holds no diploma in that profession or in medicine, which he also practices illegally. With one glance at the blushing, beribboned daughter of the consul, Alix de Maillet, the talented though lowborn free spirit Poncet agrees to undertake the mission in order to return with a knighthood and win Alix's hand. Rufin's prose attains a lively clip when describing the mood and byzantine politics of the era, showcasing the author's mastery of period and place. While Rufin relies too much on standard character types, from the sour, conniving father to the brash young inamorato to the innocent maiden and trusty, gruff sidekick, he surmounts their conventionality with skillful plot twists and well-maintained suspense. Readers will undoubtedly enjoy the exoticism of the setting and the historical detail, all rendered in a proficient translation. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In 18th-century Cairo, the French consul is ordered to make contact with far-off Abyssinia. The mission falls to a young French doctor who is in love with the consul's daughter. Gravely and gracefully written, with good characterization and a strong sense of time and place, this Prix Goncourt winner looks seriously at cultural differences and the way some people rise above them. But it's fun, too. (LJ 7/99)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

interesting but disappointing
Yet another interesting concept, well begun, but ultimately retreating to cliché. The first half of the book is quite good - detailing the travels of an embassy from Louis IV to the Negus (emperor) of Abyssinia in 1699. The novelist makes good use of the intrigues and mistrust among the various Catholic and other Western factions. The hero is a young herbalist whose medical knowledge gives him near miraculous powers, and provides several easy escapes from intricate plot devices. But these sections do impart a good sense of what it might be like to travel in these then unknown parts of the world, down the Nile, through Egypt and the Sudan, and ultimately to Ethiopia. (A good map would have been handy for this, as the areas involved are not well-known, even today.) But, about half way through, the descriptions and background can't hide the predictability of the plot, and the Candidean romantic subplot detracts from the overall effect.

A good effort, but grossly overrated
This is a tale of the adventures and travails of a French doctor living in Egypt during the reign of Louis XIV (i.e. the seventeenth century). One could describe this novel as an attempt to mix the best of Patrick O'Brian, William Thackeray, and Maurice Druon, although this work falls far short of the lofty heights of literature achieved by this triumverate. This is a translation of a work originally written in French that won the author the prestigious Prix Goncourt award for Best First Novel. Must have been a lean year. The main character, Jean-Baptiste Poncet, is a self-taught doctor living in Cairo. He is very much the modern (20/21st century) man, and holds few of the ideals and prejudices of his 17th century contemporaries. The story centers on a journey that Poncet and several companions take through Egypt into the wilds of Abyssinia nominally to bring catholicism to the natives and expand the realm of both Louis XIV and the Catholic Church. This is a good effort at historical fiction by Rufin, but ultimately it falls short of the likes of Druon, and probably not of enduring value. The characters are one dimensional and cliched (the scheming priests, the ministerial sycophant, the greedy Arab merchant, etc.). The author never succeeds in painting a picture of the land, of the people, or of the culture of the time. I never felt that I was immersed in 17th century Egypt, and I learned almost no history or culture. The plot is entirely predictable, and the love affair tedious and common. There are a few flashes of greatness in this novel, and I generously rated this book at four stars (3.5 stars is probably fair) because of the obvious thoughtful effort put in by the author, but there are just too many fatal weaknesses to label this a great novel. Fundamentally, this book just doesn't have the `feel' of a great work of historical fiction. This is a decent, but not outstanding, novel. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Rufin as he refines his craft.

An exciting historical adventure story!

It's an exciting novel of merit. Jean-Christophe Rufin's book "The Abyssinian" combines intrigue, drama, adventure, romance, and more intrigue worthy of the time spent reading it.

Set in 17th-century Cairo during the reign of Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Poncet, is the young protagonist, a French doctor who, alas, is practicing without a license in Egypt. Through his connections with the French consul, he is dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the King Negus, of Abyssinia to try to open up diplomatic opportunities. It is a dangerous mission, as Christians are not welcomed following, some 50 years prior, the expulsion of the Jesuits from the area. And during the course of the book, Poncet has to confront many personal obstacles, both physically and emotionally.

A "period piece" of the first water, "The Abyssinian" combines the typical melodrama of such a tine in literature-the daring adventures, the daring romances, the daring intrigues. Rufin seems to have captured well these characteristics as he's made a novel that is compelling to read, one that, despite the obvious melodrama, captures the reader's interest tout suite with lots of wit, creativity, and cleverness.

To call this book "larger than life" is perhaps an understatement but it's what one would expect if it were written by 18th or 19th century novelists! I look for further Rufin works of fiction! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)