The Story of an African Farm

'The Story of an African Farm' (1883) was written by South African writer and intellectual, Olive Schreiner. Originally published under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, the book was a best-seller and caused controversy with its views on marriage, sex, and religion.The story follows the lives of two cousins, Em and Lyndall, who live on an ostrich farm in South Africa's Karoo region in the 1860s. Whereas Em is an obedient child, happy to be a housewife, Lyndall is the opposite. An idealistic rebel, she aspires to something more than this life. But can Lyndall ever escape the strict conventions of Boer life? The novel draws on Schreiner's own experiences of growing up in South Africa and is now recognized as one of the first feminist novels.