In a review of the book in "World Literature Today", Sheila Roberts said that Gordimer's mixture of first- and third-person narrative is "an interesting device" which is "superbly handled" by the author. She commented that it allows the reader to get inside Rosa, and then step back and observe her from a distance. Roberts described Gordimer's handling of Rosa's predicament, continuing the role her father had given her versus abandoning the struggle and finding herself, as "extremely moving and memorable". In "The Sewanee Review" Bruce King wrote that "Burger's Daughter" is a "large, richly complex, densely textured novel". He said that it "fill with unresolvable ironies and complications" as Gordimer explores the dilemmas faced by her characters in the South African political landscape.