Olive Schreiner

Olive Schreiner (1855–1920), South African author and feminist, and friend of Havelock Ellis and Eleanor Marx, was one of the most important and challenging social commentators of her time. The ninth of twelve children, she lacked formal education and was taught by her mother. It was her 1883 novel Story of an African Farm that secured her reputation as an author and feminist, which her activities in England (1881–9) further consolidated. First published in 1911, this acclaimed feminist work, one of the most influential of the early twentieth century, established Schreiner's place in the Women's Movement. A reworking of an earlier manuscript destroyed during looting of her Johannesburg home by British soldiers, it considers how the role and position of women has been determined by the artificial constrictions of society. Schreiner ends the work with her vision of true equality between man and woman. This is the 1914 printing.

The Story of an African Farm was South African author Olive Schreiner's first published novel. Published under the pseudonym Ralf Iron, it was an immediate success. We join Waldo, Em and Lyndall and follow them through three acts as they grow from childhood into adulthood while living on a farm in the semi-desert Karoo in South Africa. The book has become recognised as one of the first feminist novels. Published in 1883 it caused some controversy as it dealt with many taboo subjects. Olive Schreiner went on to write many other books and to play a role in politics in the Cape Colony. Some of her subsequent works reflected her politics. She remained a women of principle throughout her life leaving the Women's Enfrichisement League after some of it's chapters wished to exclude back women from the vote. Olive Schreiner is a must read for those wanting a taste of the Karoo and early South Africa. But also for those wanting to understand the pioneers of femanism who helped to shape our society that we might sometimes take for granted. This is the original, unabridged version of this South African classic. Lovingly restored from the original so that you can enjoy it once again.