Les enfants des bois

Set against the rugged frontier of the Cape of Good Hope, the tale opens with a candid portrait of the boors—farmers who, though ordinarily peaceful, are pulled into fierce conflict as colonial powers clash with indigenous peoples. The narrator’s measured tone acknowledges the harshness of the era while placing the settlers’ deeds within the wider web of European exploitation, giving the story a grounded, thought‑provoking atmosphere.

At the heart of the narrative is Hendrik Von Bloom, a former Dutch officer who trades his sword for a farm after a youthful romance with Gertrude, the daughter of a prosperous boor. Inheriting land, livestock and three children, he later joins the Dutch resistance against English rule, only to be forced into exile when the rebellion is crushed. Now a wandering “trek‑boor,” he roams the Orange River region with his herd, while the narrator—who has learned much of African zoology from Hendrik’s eldest son—shares the first fragments of a family saga that promises both hardship and quiet resilience.