In Desert and Wilderness

In Desert and Wilderness is a popular young adult novel by the Polish author and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, written in 1911. It is the author's only novel written for children/teenagers. It tells the story of two young friends, Polish boy Staś Tarkowski and English girl Nel Rawlison, kidnapped by rebels during the Mahdist War in Sudan. It was adapted for film twice, in 1973 and in 2001. Plot The story takes place in the late 19th century Egypt, during the Mahdist War. A 14-year-old Polish boy, Stanisław (Staś) Tarkowski, and 8-year-old English girl, Nel Rawlison, live with their fathers and grow up in the town of Port Said. Their fathers are engineers who supervise the maintenance of the Suez Canal. One day, the Mahdist War begins in Sudan, led by a Muslim preacher, the Mahdi. Staś and Nel are captured as hostages by a group of Arabs who hope that they can exchange the children for Fatima, Mahdi's distant relative, who had been arrested by the British. Nel and Staś are forced to travel through the Sahara Desert to Khartoum, where they are to be presented to Mahdi. The journey is difficult and exhausting, especially for delicate and vulnerable Nel. Staś, protects his friend from the abductors' cruelty, even though that means that he is beaten and punished. His plans to escape fail and the children gradually lose their hope. When the group arrive in Khartoum, the Arabs are disappointed by the fact that Mahdi, busy with leading the revolt, ignored their mission and turned down their offers. They take out their anger and frustration on the children.