The themes of love, marriage, motherhood, empire, and race feature in the novel through the main female character Lyndall's engagements with these issues.

Some scholars have argued in favour of the transnational and transracial value of Lyndall's views and their applicability beyond the context of historical South Africa.

It leaps higher every moment; it roars, it blazes, it shoots out red flames; it threatens to wrap you round and devour you – you who stand by like an icicle in the flow of its fierce warmth ...

The novel addresses the contemporary discourses of race, gender and empire and shows an "acute awareness of the intellectual and cultural mood" of Victorian-era modernity.

She describes the moral responsibility of motherhood, calling it a "terrible thing" to bring a child into the world, as her own mother "knew she had nothing to support" Lyndall yet still "created her to feed like a dog from stranger hands".

The book is semi-autobiographical: in particular, the two principal protagonists (Waldo and Lyndall) display strong similarities to Schreiner's life and philosophy.

It quickly became a best-seller, despite causing some controversy over its frank portrayal of free thought, feminism, nonmarital sex and pregnancy, and transvestitism.

Waldo is initially presented as a deeply devout Christian, a philosophy he appears to have inherited from his widower father Otto, the kindly German farm-keeper.

As the narrative progresses, Waldo becomes increasingly disillusioned with his faith, a crisis brought on by a series of traumatic events, as well as his growing interest in wider philosophical works.

Lyndall is a sceptic by nature, a strong-willed and independent child who does not hesitate to disobey even her adult supervisors whenever she deems them unworthy of respect.

Em, the stepdaughter of Tant (Aunt) Sannie and cousin to Lyndall is presented as a cheerful, friendly but somewhat ignorant child.

Em serves as a character foil to Waldo and Lyndall; she is content to believe whatever she is told by the adults in her life.

Bonaparte continues in his attempts to woo Tant Sannie, until her younger, richer niece Trana comes to visit.

Although technically the first chapter of Part II of the book, "Times and Seasons" differs in style and narrative from those that surround it.

Two years pass, and in that time the natural world recedes, to be replaced by a bittersweet relationship with God and the Bible.

But this feeling does not endure – before long, the Devil again appears with snide questions and the threat of Hell and Damnation looms again.

There is no indication of how much time has passed, but the next section finds the child apparently at ease with a Universalist concept of God.

With this worship comes the realisation that all is interconnected, and the section ends with Waldo beginning to live again, at ease with his new world and his place in it.

Em (who is said to be sixteen years old) visits Waldo with tea and cakes, and announces that the new farm-keeper has arrived, an English immigrant (the book later reveals) by the name of Gregory Rose.

From the contents of the letter, Rose is revealed as something of an arrogant misogynist, believing himself destined for higher things than farming, but denied his calling by circumstances beyond himself.

Em also reveals that Lyndall will be returning from Finishing School in six months time, and is eager to introduce Gregory to her cousin.

It is here that Schreiner inserts something of a Feminist Manifesto – she discourses at length upon her experiences at school, and rails at the limited status that Society expects of her as a Woman.

After enduring no small amount of verbal abuse, Gregory confesses that he loves Lyndall, and would like nothing more than to serve only her, expecting nothing in return.

She fears losing herself if she were to marry the stronger man, whereas a marriage to Gregory Rose would leave her autonomy intact.

Gregory descends from the loft, finds Em and tells her that he can no longer live on the farm – everything reminds him of Lyndall.

While watching the half-closed door of the patient, Gregory catches a glimpse of Doss – Waldo's dog which he bequeathed to Lyndall.

Asking the landlady for more information, Gregory is told that a young, delicate lady arrived at the hotel six months earlier.

Although she makes a few half-hearted attempts to eat, or read or leave her bedroom, she never quite manages to shake off the pain that plagues her.

Some have interpreted "whiteness" here as a symbol of the colonial patriarchal power that intensifies as she ages until she dies, her feminist aspirations crushed.

Em is Lyndall's cousin – the stepdaughter of Tant Sannie, her English father having also died early in her childhood.