The Story of an African Farm, by Olive Schreiner (hardcover, used)

First published by T. Fisher Unwin Ltd. 1924

This re-set edition 1951

Part autobiography, part fantasy, the book is a remarkable evocation of the mood and personality of a country and its people.

Of the characters in the story, Lyndall and Waldo are largely two sides of Olive herself, although there were more than two sides to her complex personality; Tant' Sannie is based on a not uncommon South African type: Old Otto, the German overseer, is a true and beautiful delineation of Olive's own father, and even Boneparte Blenkins, fantastic character though he is, had an original, an irresponsible Irishman, though Boneparte is drawn as a caricature.

In this story there are no politics, no propaganda; only a mystical sense of wonder, which moves the reader as the story carries him along, and the characters are as beautifully drawn as any in fiction.

The jacket design for the new edition is by Maud Sumner, the well-known South African artist, who has exhibited extensively both in her own country and in Europe.

Condition: very good, some light wear on the dust jacket