Jess Croft lives with sister Bessie and old Silas, a farmer raising ostriches on the great Transvaal veldt. Jess is a reserved and aloof, with a quietness about her brought on by the misfortunes of her young childhood, when she and Bessie arrived motherless from England to South Africa. Then an Englishman, Captain John Niel, arrives to try his hand at the farming life. To his eyes, Bessie is lively and lovely of face and figure -- yet Jess is mystery, with a bright and roving mind, and splendid, searching eyes . . . and unwillingly the three of them are drawn together, then torn apart, by the emotions that flare among them.

Author Biography

Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856 - 1925), known as H. Rider Haggard, was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential.