The Triumph of the Sun, one of the later novels by Wilbur Smith has every surefire success ingredient packed into it. Set in the nineteenth century in the dark country of Sudan, this 600-page wonder has as its backdrop the coming into power of a charismatic religious leader, The Mahdi or ’Expected One’. The Mahdi and his warriors, popularly known as The Ansar seek to rebel against the Egyptian Khedive and his brutal misgovernment of Sudan. The British are forced to intervene to protect their national interests and to attempt to rescue their subjects stranded in the country. What sprouts as a result of these attempts forms the story.
The first 100 pages of the book offer a conventional yet streamlined sketch of the Benbrook family consisting of The British Consul and his three young daughers, and their anxiety in the face of the impending war. Their resourceful association with Ryder Courtney, a famous trader in Africa is also well brought out. The British community happens to be one close knit family and they are looking to flee Sudan for safer ground. However, their escape mission is stalled by the Dervish (followers of the Mahdi) and some of the important persons are killed. With their father brutally and scornfully murdered, two of the Benbrook sisters are taken into control by the Mahdi and are reduced to his concubines. The third sister sails away with Courtney and they venture to rescue the other two.
In Penrod Ballantyne, a valiant British warrior, is seen a silent yet powerful protagonist. He and Rebecca, the eldest Benbrook sister fall in love but he leaves her and the country to fight against the Dervish. He, too, goes in rescue of Rebecca and her sister and in the process, runs into many a bloodcurdling encounter with Osman Atalan, the Mahdi’s fierce and fanatic henchman. It is indeed delightful to read the nonchalant conversations between Courtney and Ballantyne, both of whom vie for Rebecca’s love, and still never go so far as to kill for their love. It best describes the sense of oneness that prevailed when there were enemies to fight against.
The one character that bowls you over with her indomitable spirit and sense of responsibility and love for her family is Rebecca Benbrook who is described as a beautiful 18-year old with golden hair. She is more like a mother to her twin sisters and later, when she is held captive by the Mahdi, tries to make her little sister’s ’stay in hell’ as bearable as possible. Much later, she resigns to her fate of being treated as a slave and remains truly devoted to her husband, Atalan who marries her out of her will.
The book has a racy climax with a grandiose war setting that comes alive in front of your eyes, something that can be truly relished if transformed on celluloid. The end marks the fall of the Dervish, who, claiming to satisfy the Allah, had mercilessly beheaded millions of people who they called the Infidel and sold out captive women in open markets. The last line goes thus,
"They are all gone now, for in Africa, only the Sun triumphs eternally". Most befitting and
metaphoric !!!