Olive Schreiner: A Short Guide to Her Writings by Ridley Beeton

Olive Schreiner: A Short Guide to Her Writings by Ridley Beeton is a concise scholarly introduction to one of South Africa’s most significant literary figures. Published by Howard Timmins in Cape Town in 1974, this 118-page study forms part of the Human Sciences Research Council’s Publications Series and provides an accessible guide to Schreiner’s literary output, ideas and enduring importance. Bibliographic records confirm the 1974 Timmins edition and its focus on criticism and interpretation of Schreiner’s work.

Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) is best known for The Story of an African Farm, the pioneering novel that established her as an important voice in South African and late Victorian literature. Her writing also explored feminism, gender inequality, racial and class oppression, pacifism, colonial society and the search for individual freedom. Her distinctive combination of philosophical reflection, symbolism and social criticism has continued to attract literary scholars and readers.

Ridley Beeton’s guide is particularly useful for readers wanting a compact reference to Schreiner’s writings and their themes. The volume includes a bibliography of her works, with the published record noting a section entitled “The works of Olive Schreiner” on pages 88–92.

For collectors of South African literature, students of Victorian and colonial writing, and readers interested in the development of feminist literary thought, Olive Schreiner: A Short Guide to Her Writings offers a valuable period study of a writer whose influence extends well beyond her best-known novel. This 1974 Howard Timmins edition is also a worthwhile addition to collections focused on South African literary history, Africana and twentieth-century criticism.

Condition: Good – Wear on dust jacket including tears. Prior ownership inscription on front end page. Foxing present.