H. Rider Haggard wrote JESS in 1887, the same year he penned his classic adventure novels SHE and ALLAN QUATERMAIN. Set in Pretoria at the time of the Boer War, it is the slowly unfolding tale of a young woman, her family, her loves, and life in Africa (based on Haggard's own experiences as a farmer in South Africa).
It is not a "romance" in the Victorian sense, which generally meant sweeping adventures like Haggard's most famous work, KING SOLOMON'S MINES. JESS is instead a simple drama, showcases life as it was lived in Africa nearly 120 years ago. Today it would be classified as historical romance.