Anna - Yay for you! I have never met anyone else who has read this obscure Jules Verne novel.
Our public library had a copy of it when I was a kid. Alas, some years later, vandals dropped a smoke bomb in through the book return slot; the ensuing fire destroyed a fair amount of the library's collection.
In my opinion "The Begum's Fortune" is a lesser Verne, but as you say, still interesting and with much to offer. Like Mozart, even inferior Verne is better than many other authors' best.
Question to others on the boards - has anyone else read this book? Posters on the boards seem to be a group of fairly well-read people who have wide-ranging interests.
