Rooke, Daphne (1914–)

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Rooke, Daphne (1914–)

South African novelist, journalist and children's writer. Name variations: (pseudonym) Robert Pointon. Born Daphne Marie Pizzey, 1914, in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa; grew up in Durban; dau. of an English father and Afrikaans mother (writer); granddau. of Siegfried Mare, founder of Pietersburg; niece of Leon Mare (Afrikaans short-story writer); m. Irvin Rooke (an Australian).

Moved to Zululand, where she worked as a journalist and set her 1st novel, A Grove of Fever Trees (1950), which was 1st published as The Sea Hath Bounds (1946); on marriage, moved to Australia; published the international bestseller, Mittee (1951); other works include Ratoons (1953), set in the cane fields of Natal, Beti (1959), A Lover for Estelle (1961), Diamond Jo (1965), Double Ex! (1971), and Margaretha de la Porte (1974); children's books include The South African Twins (1953), The Australian Twins (1955), and The New Zealand Twins (1957).