With Edged Tools

Jack Meredith is the scion of a respected family and the beau-ideal of London society; Guy Oscard has chosen to forsake that society for the lonely existence of a big game hunter. Each is now driven by love and pride to seek his fortune in West Africa, where they join a partnership to supply the world’s rarest medicine—a drug derived from the leaves of plant which grows only on a single plateau in the interior of one of the most inaccessible, dangerous places on Earth. These two resourceful men, different though they seem, are united by strength of character and a shared sense of honor. They soon form a friendship which can survive any challenge, whether it be hostile tribesmen, the relentless power of nature, disease, or privation—but which may be destroyed by a secret awaiting them back at home.

With Edged Tools in a sense made Henry Seton Merriman’s name as one of the Victorian era’s leading novelists. It showcases his ability to blend several genres—realism, romance, adventure, intrigue, social commentary—into a cohesive, fast-paced story which moved effortlessly from locale to locale and character to character. Unlike many contemporary novelists, Merriman was able to craft supporting characters and themes as memorable as his primary ones, and in With Edged Tools he is able to highlight the tensions between the old class structures of England and its rising commercial class consciousness. Against that backdrop is played out a drama in which those embodying the old ways and those embracing the new all demonstrate that strength of character and sense of honor transcend any narrow sense of class.