 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"".In the meantime (1937) she had married an Australian named Irvin ("Bertie") Rooke, whom she had met while doing organizational work for the Transport Workers Union.To reconnect with Bertie's Australian family, they left for Australia in 1946.