The dark side of love (1)
A general search for information on the early feminist South African writer, Olive Schreiner, ended up sending me off on a completely different tangent and new discoveries, which is one of the joys of this hobby. I had come across a highly melodramatic illustrated article from the Boston Sunday Post of 4 March 1900, with the headline “Two Love Stories that have Come Out of the Terrible South African War”, one sub-heading being, “Olive Schreiner, the Famous Novelist, Jilted by Cecil Rhodes, Became His Most Inveterate Enemy.” (The idea of that Empire-builder, Cecil Rhodes , being romantically involved with any woman is fanciful. Rhodes was either totally asexual or a closet homosexual. While it is true that Olive was initially impressed with him, she became disillusioned with his ruthless character and ambitions and did everything she could to discredit him. Her famous book Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland is worth reading to gain an understanding of her views.) But I di...