"A sensitive study of a life that was in many respects ahead of its time."—Human Rights Quarterly "Berkman's intellectual biography of this complicated woman [provides] us with not only a study of her ideas, which she bequeathed to posterity, but also with an intriguing look at her secret life she wished to remain hidden."—Quarterly Journal of British Studies "In her attention to the many different sides of Schreiner's work, Berkman has given us a fuller look at both Olive Schreiner and the social, political, and intellectual contexts in which she wrote."—Victorian Studies "Berkman's study of Schreiner's writing and thought makes clear the relevance of her work for present-day feminists, as well as those of two decades ago and Schreiner's contemporaries."—American Historical Review "A sympathetic, detailed, and acute account of Schreiner's unremitting and productive effort to live seriously and significantly as what we would now call a feminist theorist: a woman who took responsibility both for the meaning of her own life and for the interpretation and future of her world."—Modern Fiction Studies "Berkman probes Schreiner's life in exquisite detail; her considerable effort has yielded a rich, complex portrait of an amazing woman."—New Directions for Women