SCHOLEFIELD, Alan - The Stone Flower - (Excellent Hardcover in Wrapper)

Book and wrapper in great condition - Hamish Hamilton, London, 1982. - First Edition.  >>>   The strong and resilient Susan Parker, arrives in the inland wilderness as the plain, stocky bride of a missionary--but soon after her arrival she is victim to a violent attack by Hottentot bandits.    -   Seeking comfort and love in this harsh new landscape she becomes the wife of Frans Delport. Slowly, along with the birth of their daughter, they carve out a primitive homestead.    -   Their isolated yet happy existence is threatened when the nearby diamond strikes attract more and more foreigners. Among them: brutish, illegitimate young English sailor Jack Farson; and Russian-Jewish-born, London-bred David Kade.    -   
Jack and David become unlikely, ever-feuding partners on a claim at the diamond diggings and suspiciously quick to befriend the Delports.   -   Jack obsessively hunts for diamonds at the farm, finding an epic stone by dismantling the farmhouse; this ""Southern Cross"" diamond will become the start of Jack and Davids fortune--and a source of enmity for decades to come    -   From diamond digs, to secret affairs, to facing the Boer War; Jack, David and the Delports lives become entwined in a way none of them could have foreseen.   (Goodreads)