''Montezuma's Daughter'', first published in 1892, is a novel by the Victorian adventure writer H. Rider Haggard. Narrated in the first person by Thomas Wingfield, an Englishman whose adventures include having his mother murdered by his Spanish cousin Juan de Garcia, a brush with the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

, shipwreck, and slavery. Eventually, Thomas unwillingly joins a Spanish expedition to New Spain, and the novel tells a fictionalized story of the first interactions between the natives and European explorers. This includes a number of misunderstandings, prejudice on the part of the Spaniards, and ultimately open war. During the course of the story, Thomas meets and marries Otomie,the daughter of the native king from whom the novel takes its title, and settles into life in Mexico. The war destroys his native family, and after his nemesis, Otomie, and his five children perish that Wingfield returns to England and weds Lily Bozard, the English betrothed of his youth. While Haggard was in Mexico in 1891, doing research for the book, he received news that his only son had died, which dealt him a lasting blow and badly affected his health. Haggard later wrote that ''Montezuma's Daughter'' was the last of his best work "for the rest was repetition so far as fiction was concerned". Like many Victorian adventure novels, this one sometimes treats the natives as naïve and barbaric, but this is a flaw Haggard explicitly points out in his main character.

Reception

Gary Westfahl Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of California, River ...

described ''Montezuma's Daughter'' and '' Cleopatra'' as "atmospheric historical romances".Westfahl, Gary., "Haggard, (Sir) H(enry) Rider" in ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', ed.

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

, London, St. James Press, 1996, , (p. 259).

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

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Images and bibliographic information for various editions
of ''Montezuma's Daughter'' at SouthAfricaBooks.com 1893 British novels British adventure novels Aztecs in fiction English adventure novels Mesoamerica in fiction Novels by H. Rider Haggard Novels set in Tudor England Victorian novels Novels set in the 15th century Novels set during the Conquest of the Americas Novels set in Mexico {{1890s-adventure-novel-stub