Henry Rider Haggard was a British Victorian writer known for his adventure novels set is exotic places. His writings are sympathetic to the African natives. He often portrayed Africans as heroic in his stories even though the main characters are usually European. Ayesha is a 2000-year-old queen who rules a lost city in an African cavern. She has the beauty of Aphrodite and the wisdom of Isis. This exotic locale is the scene for magic, suspense and death.