Clayton
considers that this unwieldy novel is a result of the multifaceted nature of Schreiner's life experiences, and the various perspectives she had of them over time. She also notes that it reflects historical changes...
Literary responses
Olive Schreiner
Biographers Ruth First
and Ann Scott
call the book both Undine's and Olive's story,
First, Ruth, and Ann Scott. Olive Schreiner. André Deutsch, 1980.
84
and Cherry Clayton
agrees with them that it is Schreiner's first transition from the diary to the novel form. To...
Literary Setting
Olive Schreiner
Cherry Clayton
believes the novel's fictional English setting, Greenwood, was influenced by the English landscapes in the works of Hardy
, George Eliot
, and the BrontësEmily BrontëAnne Brontë
. Schreiner herself had not yet been to...
Publishing
Olive Schreiner
Schreiner began writing the book in South Africa in 1873, and continued to work on it while living in England. She returned to it often, but it never reached a stage where she considered...