The Story of an African Farm Author:Olive Schreiner "The Story of an African Farm," Olive Schreiner's landmark novel, is set in the rural Karoo towards the end of the last century. The story was originally published in 1883 under the pseudonym Ralph Iron. When it was later revealed that the author was a woman, many Victorian readers were shocked by the forthright feminism and negative comment on ... more »the social structures that formed the basis of their colonial society. Olive Schreiner proved to be a woman of vision and an author of skill. In "The Story of an African Farm" she evokes the bleakness and beauty of the farm in the Karoo, which she uses as the backdrop of the stories of Lyndall and Walso - unlikely soul mates whose lives reflect their frustrated quest for a better reality and their dreams of self-fulfillment. Schreiner's radical views on marriage, class distinction and religion remain relevant to this day and "The Story of an African Farm" maintains an important place in South Africa literature. Victorian readers expecting the structured plot of a typical three-volume novel were startled by the oddity of African Farm, with its poetic, allegorical, and distinct passages, and its defiance of narrative and sexual conventions. With that clearly explained, it is not a surprise that it shocked old, priggish Englanders with their stiff upper lips and staunch, conservative manners, nor is it shocking that the Church of England called the novel blasphemous. "The Story of an African Farm" isn't the usual one of Victorian grace and patrician dogma. It is not a book of nice ladies and gentlemen sitting under the African sun near exotic, wild flowers sipping tea and participating in intellectual banter. No, it is an underscored work of literature where ideas of human aspiration and ecumenical desires are explored under a blazing sun and burnt, sandy plain.« less