10 h 13 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 13 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the hunger for fortune meets a wilderness that offers no easy escape?
In The Sign of the Spider, Bertram Mitford brings the pull of wealth into the hard country of southern Africa. Fortune promises much, but risk stands close beside it. This Victorian adventure explores the grip of obsession and the struggle to endure in a world where one chance can mean gain or ruin.
The land is more than a backdrop. Heat, long distances and wild creatures make survival a constant test. Mitford writes within the British frontier adventure tradition, where danger and pursuit drive the story forward. His portrayal of African peoples and colonial life also carries the imperial attitudes of his time.
What you’ll discover
- The pull of fortune Explore the hunger for wealth that makes the prospect of danger worth facing.
- A harsh frontier Enter a southern African setting defined by heat, distance, hard country and wild creatures.
- Obsession under pressure Discover an adventure where the desire for fortune meets the urgent demands of survival.
- Risk and pursuit Feel the restless pull of an old-fashioned tale driven by danger and chase.
- A Victorian perspective Read with an awareness of the imperial attitudes shaping this vision of frontier life.
Who will love it
This book is for lovers of Victorian adventure, gold rush towns and hidden kingdoms, and for readers who enjoy a sharp-witted cynic who meets love and danger in southern Africa.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A desperate man leaves home
- Lilith unsettles his careful cynicism
- Profit brings neither peace nor freedom
- Ruin opens a dangerous escape
- A farewell leaves a strange keepsake
- Wealth now comes through cruelty
- A welcome becomes a trap
- Love gives the sign another meaning
- His tenderness survives his hardened beliefs
Who’s who
- Laurence StanninghameA bitter, ruined Englishman in middle age who goes to Africa to make a fortune and believes feelings are a luxury.
- Lilith OrmskirkA bright, graceful young woman from the Cape who sees through Laurence's mockery and gives him a charm to carry.
- HazonCalled the Pirate, a scarred and feared trader who offers Laurence a dangerous road to wealth in the interior.
- HolmesA cheerful young Englishman, Laurence's cabin mate, who follows his friends inland and struggles with his conscience.
- George FalknerLilith's jealous cousin, who loves her hopelessly and sees Laurence as a rival.
- LindelaA tall, brave daughter of the king's brother among the People of the Spider, who takes a keen interest in Laurence.
- TyisandhluThe dignified king of the Ba-gcatya, known as the Strong Wind that Burns from the North, who judges strangers shrewdly.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Sign of the Spider
by Bertram Mitford · 1896
A broke Englishman sails for Johannesburg, and a lover's keepsake turns aside a nation's spears.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Picture a man so worn down by a shabby suburban house and a sharp-tongued marriage that he buys a ticket to Johannesburg and gives his wife two days to say all she wants. That man is Laurence Stanninghame, hero of The Sign of the Spider, an adventure novel by Bertram Mitford.
The Sign of the Spider at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 45 min4 h 35 min fast, 6 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 82,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1896by Bertram Mitford
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A ruined man buys a ticket south
The book opens in a shabby suburban house on a murky autumn morning. Laurence Stanninghame sits at breakfast while his wife talks at him, praising other women's husbands and sighing over his failings. He has endured this for about thirteen years. Then he tells her calmly that he sails for Johannesburg in two days.
He has no steady income, and his small capital is draining away. His inventions made money for other people, and publishers turned away his bitter writing. He calls the boom kill or cure, and says he would rather go down fighting than put a bullet through his head at home. Mitford does not make the wife a villain. She is kindhearted and a devoted mother, yet her will is as strong as his.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1896
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mitford, Bertram. The Sign of the Spider. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sign-of-the-spider.
Mitford, B. (2026). The sign of the spider. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sign-of-the-spider (Original work published 1896)
Mitford, Bertram. The Sign of the Spider. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sign-of-the-spider.
@book{mitford2026sign,
author = {Mitford, Bertram},
title = {The Sign of the Spider},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-sign-of-the-spider},
note = {First published 1896}
}
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What is The Sign of the Spider about?
It follows Laurence Stanninghame, a ruined Englishman who sails to Johannesburg to make a fortune. He falls in love, joins a dangerous trading partnership inland, and finds himself among a powerful hidden nation known as the People of the Spider.
Who is Hazon in The Sign of the Spider?
Hazon is a dark, scarred and feared trader nicknamed the Pirate. He befriends Laurence in Johannesburg and offers him a way out of ruin through a secret expedition into central Africa. Rumour says that his earlier partners never returned.
What does the Sign of the Spider mean?
It is a mark linked to the Ba-gcatya, a Zulu-speaking nation whose name means the People of the Spider. The sign also ties to a small keepsake with a sprawling monogram that Laurence carries as a charm from the woman he loves.
The author
Bertram Mitford
1855–1914 · English adventure novelist
Bertram Mitford (1855–1914) was an English novelist. He was born in London and lived for part of his life in South Africa. He wrote novels set in southern Africa. His books include The Sign of the Spider, published in 1896. He later lived in England.
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