Joy Adamson to a number of publishers before it was bought by Harvill Press, part of HarperCollins. Published in 1960, it became a bestseller, spending 13 weeks at the top of "The New York Times" Best Seller list and nearly a year on the chart overall. The success of the book was due to both the story of Elsa and the dozens of photographs of her. Readers had pictures of many of the events of Elsa's life leading up to her release. Subsequent books were also heavily illustrated. "Born Free" received largely favorable reviews from critics. Adamson worked closely with publishers to
Confession of the Lioness to believe that Mariamar herself is a lioness, and the entire village jeers for her execution. However, Naftalinda and Florindo defend Mariamar. After the incident, Mariamar returns home despondently, feeling inhuman and as though she is merely an animal trapped inside the body of a woman. She then goes to lay by the dead body of the lioness. Concurrently, Archie has returned to Kulumani with Florindo who informed him that the lions attacking the town had been killed and that Genito died while slaying the lioness. Archie has been instructed by Naftalinda to bring Mariamar to Maputo with him so