Long Odds

"Long Odds" by Harold Bindloss is an early 20th-century novel centered on Thomas Ormsgill, a resolute Englishman in colonial Africa, facing trials of duty and honor amid a difficult environment. He embarks on a journey to fulfill a promise to someone who has died, Ormsgill's path explores the burdens of responsibility in a land riddled with corruption and hardship. Beginning at Fort San Roque in Western Africa, a place of oppressive heat and boredom, Ormsgill arrives with American missionary Watson Nares, a man with a clear sense of purpose, to the surprise of Commandant Dom Erminio. Ormsgill is portrayed as a compassionate man, driven to help a sick friend. In Africa, Ormsgill faces danger and difficult moral choices and, as he interacts with others, his journey explores important themes of trust, loyalty, and moral obligation.