Description
Lord of the River by Bernard Clavel is a historical novel set along the Rhône River in France in 1840, during a period of rapid industrial change. Captain Christian Merlin is a proud and traditional river captain whose livelihood depends on the old ways of navigating the river, using barges, draught horses and skilled towpath workers.
But the arrival of steam-powered boats threatens to make his world obsolete. As mechanical progress and commercial interests reshape river transport, Merlin faces the loss of a way of life built on generations of skill and experience. The novel explores the clash between tradition and industrialisation, human pride and the changing relationship between people, their work and the natural world.
