Daphne Rooke was born in Boksburg in 1914. Her talent for writing was recognised and encouraged by her mother, Marie Knevitt, a journalist and writer of short stories. Her first novel, `A Grove of Fever Trees', was co-winner of an Afrikaanse Pers literary competition in 1950. Her novels were particularly popular in the USA in the 1950's and early 1960's. According to Dr Ian Glenn, she was the South African writer with the widest international exposure and the greatest commercial success at that time. Her books were published by serious publishers and received appreciative notices in leading critical reviews of the time in the USA and Britain. She used indigenous material, and dealt with major historical issues of the day. In spite of these factors, or perhaps because of them, her books were not well received in South Africa. One of her novels, `The Greyling', was banned in South Africa in 1962. Dr Glenn describes some of the early South African reviews of her books as "uncomprehending", and believes that some of her work "deserves recognition and rethinking". She married Irvin Rooke, an Australian, and eventually settled in Australia. She also travelled extensively in Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, and some of her stories have been set in these places.