A conniving Englishman wanders into their lives and sets out to woo Tant' Sannie. He takes advantage of Otto and treats Waldo cruelly, but is finally driven off when Tant' Sannie overhears him making advances to her niece, Trana.
Years later a second Englishman wanders into their lives. His name is Gregory and he declares his love first for Em, who has turned into a kinder version of Tant' Sannie, then for Lyndall, who has returned from school a disillusioned beauty. Astonishingly, Lyndall agrees to marry him, but with a proviso. She wants nothing from him but his name. Several surprising twists follow, one of which is that Gregory is a transvestite. Waldo meanwhile develops into a sort of South African Heathcliff.
The polemical chapter that opens Part 2, and several rather heavy-handed allegorical passages, weigh down the book but do not sink it. The Story of an African Farm is surprisingly modern, not only for its feminist and agnostic views, but also for its memorable characters and affecting scenes.
The final line has got to be one of the best ever: "But the chickens were wiser."
