author

Mrs. Annie Martin

A lively late-19th-century memoirist, she brought readers into the unusual world of ostrich farming in South Africa with warmth, humor, and a sharp eye for everyday detail. Her best-known book mixes travel writing, natural observation, and domestic adventure in a way that still feels fresh.

1 Audiobook

Home Life on an Ostrich Farm

Home Life on an Ostrich Farm

by Mrs. Annie Martin

About the author

Mrs. Annie Martin is known for Home Life on an Ostrich Farm, published by D. Appleton and Company in 1891. The book is a firsthand, late-19th-century account of life on an ostrich farm in South Africa, and it stands out for its vivid scenes of farming, animals, landscape, and household life.

In the book's preface, she notes that parts of it had already appeared in abridged form in the Saturday Review and the St. James's Gazette, suggesting that her writing reached periodical readers before it was gathered into a volume. Her voice is practical and observant, with a gift for turning daily work and unfamiliar surroundings into engaging storytelling.

Very little biographical information about her was easy to confirm from reliable sources consulted here, so much of her public profile today rests on this single surviving work. Even so, Home Life on an Ostrich Farm gives a strong sense of a writer interested in nature, travel, and the texture of ordinary life in an unusual setting.