Chris Bohjalian is the American author of over 20 novels, including Midwives (1997), The Princess of Las Vegas (2024), and Hour of the Witch (2021). His works are set in both contemporary and historical time periods and often revolve around social issues. Several books have reached The New York Times bestseller list, including Midwives, which brought Bohjalian fame when it was selected for Oprah’s Book Club.

The Lioness is set in 1964 and follows a newlywed actress, Katie Barstow, who is taking her husband and several friends, including her brother and his pregnant wife, on a safari in Africa for her honeymoon. When Russians kidnap the group, hidden tension erupts. As the group is torn apart by human and animal predators, they grapple with Motives for Human Violence and Cruelty and confront The Fragility of Intimate Relationships, all against a backdrop that examines The Legacy of Colonialism. The book is narrated in the third person, rotating between different perspectives.

This guide quotes from the hardcover first edition published by Doubleday in 2022.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, death, child abuse, physical abuse, pregnancy loss, racism, antigay bias, sexual content, substance use, addiction, bullying, animal death, illness, mental illness, and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

An unnamed narrator reflects on a 1964 safari and how it became a story not of differences but of survival. The main narrative begins with Katie Barstow, a 30-year-old Hollywood actress, who has just married her brother’s childhood best friend, David Hill. Katie is hosting a safari in Africa for their honeymoon and has invited, among others, her older brother, Billy Stepanov, and his wife, Margie, who is pregnant. Billy and Katie grew up in Manhattan with parents who were active on the Broadway scene, and their mother, Glenda, abused them both but was especially cruel to Billy. David grew up with them in New York, and his father works for the CIA. David moved to Los Angeles to start an art gallery and reconnected with Katie through Billy. They have hired an outfitter, Charlie Patton, who is described as one of the last “great white hunters” (159). Katie enjoys how their African guide, Juma, teaches them about the animals. They are four days into their safari when white men with guns attack their camp.

As it becomes clear that their camp is under attack, Juma hurries Katie, David, Billy, and Margie into one of their Land Rovers. Also, with them is Terrance, a fellow actor and a good friend of Katie’s. However, the attackers stop the Land Rover, shoot Juma, and then drive the vehicle away.

Three other guests are put into a second vehicle. This group includes Carmen Tedesco, a friend of Katie’s and a fellow actress, who is disgusted by the fear shown by her husband, Felix, during the attack. The third person in their vehicle is Reggie Stout, an older man who is Katie’s publicist and who fought in Okinawa in World War II. Felix is astonished to see that Reggie has a jackknife and wonders if he plans on attacking their kidnappers. Felix never wanted to come on the safari and only accompanied Carmen so that he could be around famous and powerful Hollywood people. The last member of their party, Peter Merrick, Katie’s agent, is in the camp when the kidnappers arrive. He sneaks into Charlie’s tent to find a gun but, once outside, is attacked and killed by a leopard. Meanwhile, the attackers load the African guides and porters, including the second guide, Muema, and the chief porter, Benjamin, into a third truck, which they then drive away.

Katie and her group are brought to a cluster of huts built and abandoned by the Maasai people who live in the area. Each of the Americans is led to a separate hut and tied up, reminding Billy of how his mother locked him in the coat closet when she was angry with him. A new man, a Russian who seems to be the leader of the group, arrives. When Margie loses her pregnancy, the Russian takes her away, later reporting that Margie did not survive. Terrance forces a confrontation with their kidnappers, who explain that while they intend to ransom the others, David will be taken to a prison in Moscow because the Russian KGB wants to know more about his father’s work with MK-ULTRA, a top-secret program within the CIA. David fights to get control of a gun, and one of the kidnappers shoots him.

In the second Land Rover, Carmen and Reggie orchestrate an attack on their kidnappers that causes the vehicle to crash. In the struggle, Felix is shot and killed. Carmen and Reggie, who is injured, shelter for the night by a baobab tree. However, hyenas maul Reggie badly, and he dies the next day. Carmen lights the baobab tree on fire in hopes of attracting attention.

In the third truck, the one with the safari staff, Benjamin fears that they are being taken to the Congo, where there is a civil war going on between the Congolese government and a rebel faction known as the Simbas. African rangers pursue the truck, and the Russian captors begin shooting their hostages. When they turn on Muema, Benjamin intercedes to defend his friend. In the shooting that follows, Benjamin is killed.

The next morning, Katie, Billy, and Terrance are being driven to a new location when their truck breaks down. A poisonous snake bites one of their captors, and the three hostages gamble on overpowering their remaining two attackers. In the scuffle, Terrance is shot and killed, but Billy seizes a gun and kills another Russian. This leaves only the ringleader, who identifies himself as Viktor Procenko. He reveals that his sister, Nina, pretended to defect to the US and became involved with David because the Russians wanted information about David’s father. David was being blackmailed by the Russians, who had proof that he had sex with a waitress while engaged to Katie. Procenko reveals that David helped arrange the kidnapping in return for a share of the ransom because his gallery was losing money. Viktor admits that he shot David, so Katie shoots Viktor.

Back at the burning baobab tree, Carmen is relieved when a plane lands. On it is Charlie, who went for help when he saw their safari being attacked. In an Epilogue set in 2022, Carmen looks back on her life. She returned to work and had a long career, but Katie lived as a recluse in her home, devastated by David’s betrayal and her sense of responsibility for the deaths of the others. Billy wrote a bestselling memoir about his abuse and remarried. Carmen wonders why she survived and reflects on how Reggie compared her to a lioness.