The Story of an African Farm

Originally published under a pseudonym in 1883, Olive Schreiner’s The Story of an African Farm provides an account of colonial life in 19th-century South Africa. The novel uses the omniscient narration style typical of 19th-century Realism but blends elements of a bildungsroman and philosophical fiction in telling the story of cousins Lyndall and Em and their friendship with Waldo, the son of the farm’s German overseer. As the children grow older, the novel explores themes of Finding God and Unity in Nature, The Value of Education, and Women’s Status in Marriage.

This guide refers to the 1995 Penguin Classics paperback edition.

Content Warning: The novel employs racist stereotypes and uses outdated and offensive language to describe South Africa’s indigenous peoples, which is replicated in this guide only in explanations or direct quotations. The novel and this guide also discuss death and infant death and refer to suicide.

Plot Summary

On a South African farm, a Boer woman named Tant’ (Aunt) Sannie tosses in her bed in the grips of a nightmare. Lyndall calls out to her cousin, Em (also Tant’ Sannie’s stepdaughter), in the next bed, but the child is asleep. Otto, the farm’s German overseer, sleeps peacefully in the outbuilding, but his son, Waldo Farber, lies awake, worried about people dying without salvation. In the daylight, everything looks slightly different: Tant’ Sannie is unattractive and boorish, Em is freckled and uncoordinated, and Lyndall is stubborn, if beautiful. Waldo herds his sheep, leaving his lunch as a sacrifice to God, while his father preaches to some indigenous children.

The farm’s routine is rudely interrupted by the arrival of a man named Bonaparte Blenkins. He claims to be related to Napoleon Bonaparte, not to mention to members of the British royal family. Only Lyndall seems to see through his deceit. Otto believes that Bonaparte is a devout man who tells the truth, and Bonaparte is able to talk the man out of his best hat and suit, as well as his Sunday service. Bonaparte’s fiery sermon speaks of the punishment that will be meted out to liars in the afterlife.

Meanwhile, Lyndall dreams of going away to school, while Em wishes only to find happiness amid her familiar surroundings. Waldo struggles with his faith, alternating between ecstatic belief and disappointed despair. All of the children spend much of their time out on the African plains—especially Waldo, who absorbs the natural landscape into his perspective on life and belief.

Bonaparte schemes to have Otto banished from the farm: He tells Tant’ Sannie that Otto has undermined her authority with the servants and has claimed that she will do as he says because she is in love with him. Tant’ Sannie, entranced by Bonaparte’s flattery (and convinced by his claims to aristocracy), orders Otto to leave. However, before the old man can go, his heart gives out, and he dies. Bonaparte proceeds to torment Waldo, presumably to goad him into leaving of his own accord. Bonaparte now controls the farm, in addition to tutoring Lyndall and Em. Lyndall refuses to listen to his lessons, which are full of inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.

One day, Tant’ Sannie’s niece visits, and Bonaparte is taken with tales of the wealth she will inherit. He switches his allegiance from Tant’ Sannie to the niece, but Tant’ Sannie soon discovers his betrayal. She orders him away, and after futilely begging Waldo for assistance, Bonaparte leaves the farm, never to return.

Several years later, an Englishman, Gregory Rose, has leased half the farm to work. He has fallen in love with Em, and the two are engaged. Lyndall has been away at school, and her return, though much anticipated, disrupts order at the farm. Although her education has not been what she expected—a girls’ finishing school does not focus on academic subjects—she has gained much experience. She talks to Waldo about her burgeoning sense of women’s oppression—that women cannot gain independence from men and that their worth is derived from youth and beauty, not intelligence.

Meanwhile, Tant’ Sannie is engaged to be married, and Waldo decides that he will leave the farm shortly thereafter. After the wedding festivities, Gregory asks to drive Lyndall back to the farm. Though Gregory complains about Lyndall’s arrogance and disobedience, it is clear that he is smitten with her, and Em understands that his loyalty has shifted. She breaks off the engagement, and Gregory then asks Lyndall to marry him. She agrees on one condition: He is to only serve her and ask nothing in return.

Lyndall secretly meets with a gentleman who wonders why she will not marry him. It later becomes apparent that she is pregnant with his child, but she refuses to marry him for propriety’s sake; she will not become a man’s possession. Still, she agrees to leave the farm with him, saving the others from her scandal. He abandons her at the end of her pregnancy, and she gives birth to a child who lives for only two hours. She herself almost dies in the process.

Gregory goes in search of Lyndall after sinking into a depression following her departure. Em lets him go, though she believes Lyndall is beyond their help. When Gregory finds Lyndall, she is wracked with pain and unable to leave her bed; indeed, she is beyond any medical intervention. Gregory disguises himself as a woman and dedicates himself to being her nurse. While she tries to rally, her pain and injuries are too great. Gregory helps her into the wagon, and they head back toward the farm, but she does not make it into the mountains. Her death brings despair to Waldo, who has returned to the farm after more than a year away only to discover this tragic news.

In accordance with Lyndall’s wishes, Gregory and Em plan to marry. Waldo does not know what he will do now. He tries to comfort himself with thoughts that both he and Lyndall are part of the larger universe and will be reunited in some way. He goes out into the yard and falls asleep. Em brings him a glass of milk, but Waldo will not wake; the implication is that he has died.