Daphne Rooke

Daphne Marie Rooke (née Pizzey) (6 March 1914 – 21 January 2009 ^[1]) was a South African author of works such as "Mittee", "Ratoons" and "Wizards' Country". She also wrote travel articles and books for children set in India, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Biography

Daphne Rooke was born in Boksburg, Transvaal; the youngest of six children. Her father was English. Her mother was an Afrikaaner from a well-known family that included the writer Leon Maré and a founder of Pietersburg, Siegfried Maré.^[2] After her father's death in the First World War, the family relocated to Natal, where they lived a hardscrabble farming life. During this time, her mother published a book, "The Children of the Veld" (under the name "Mare Knevitt"). This inspired Daphne to try her hand at writing and she became a journalist. In 1946, she was co-winner of the Afrikaanse Pers literary prize, for a work that was eventually published as her first novel, under the title "A Grove of Fever Trees".^[3] In the meantime (1937) she had married an Australian named Irvin ("Bertie") Rooke, who she had met while doing organizational work for the Transport Workers Union. Following the Durban riots in 1949, they left for Australia. They returned to Natal in the fifties but, disturbed by the police state mentality in South Africa, moved back to Australia in 1965. In the 1980s her work was "rediscovered" by the University of Natal, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1997. She remained in Australia until Bertie's death in 1989 when she moved to Cambridge, England, where she lived for the rest of her life.^[4]

Bibliography

Based on the publication list from "Contemporary Novelists", vol.15, article by Lynne Bryer ^[5]

Autobiography

• Three Rivers - A Memoir. Daffodil Press (2003) ISBN 0-954522-80-X

Novels

• The Sea Hath Bounds. A.P.B. Bookstore (1946) later published as A Grove of Fever Trees, Houghton Mifflin (1950), Jonathan Cape (1951).
• Mittee. Victor Gollancz (1951), Houghton Mifflin (1952), Chameleon Press (1987), Penguin Books (1991), Toby Press (2007) ^[6]
• Ratoons. Victor Gollancz and Houghton Mifflin (1953) Chameleon Press (1987), Toby Press (2007) ^[6]
• Wizards' Country. Victor Gollancz and Houghton Mifflin (1957), Chameleon Press (1987) Toby Press (2007)^{[6] [7]}
• Beti. Victor Gollancz and Houghton Mifflin (1959).
• A Lover for Estelle. Victor Gollancz and Houghton Mifflin (1961).
• The Greyling. Victor Gollancz (1962), Reynal (1963).
• Diamond Jo. Victor Gollancz and Reynal (1965).
• Boy on the Mountain. Victor Gollancz (1969).
• Margaretha de la Porte. Victor Gollancz (1974).

Short Stories

• "The Friends," in South African Stories, edited by David Wright. Faber & Faber and Duell (1960).
• "Fikizolo," in Over the Horizon. Victor Gollancz (1960).

Children's Books

• The South African Twins. Jonathan Cape (1953); as Twins in South Africa, Houghton Mifflin (1955).
• The Australian Twins. Jonathan Cape (1954); as Twins in Australia, Houghton Mifflin (1956).
• New Zealand Twins. Jonathan Cape (1957).
• Double Ex!. Victor Gollancz (1971).
• A Horse of His Own. Victor Gollancz (1976).

Critical Studies

• Orville Prescott, in the New York Times, March 1, 1950
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher, in the Book-of-the-Month News (New York), January 1952
• Sylvia Stallings, in the New York Herald Tribune, December 20, 1953
• Paul Scott, in Country Life (London), May 24, 1962
• R.W Johnson, in the Times Literary Supplement (London), July 5, 2006 ^[8]

Manuscript Collections

Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University, USA;

National English Literary Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa.

References

1. ^ Obituary by R. W. Johnson in the National Post, Canada, Feb. 2, 2009
2. ^ Introduction to the Penguin Classics edition of "Mittee"
3. ^ KZN Literary Tourism website
4. ^ Obituary: The Times, February 25, 2009
5. ^ "Contemporary Novelists" vol.15, entry for Daphne Rooke
6. ^ ^{a b c} The Toby Press: Daphne Rooke
7. ^ Available on Amazon Kindle in the UK
8. ^ Times Literary Supplement, R. W. Johnson, The Old Fires of Daphne Rooke [1], July 05, 2006

Persondata
Name	Rooke, Daphne
Alternative names
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Date of birth	March 6, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	January 21, 2009
Place of death