Dalene Matthee (13 October 1938 – 20 February 2005) was a South African author best known for her four "Forest Novels", written in and around the

Knysna Forest Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47. ...

. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages, including English, French,

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and Icelandic, and over a million copies have been sold worldwide.

Biography

She was born Dalena Scott in Riversdale in the then

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

in 1938. After graduating from the local high school in 1957, she studied music at a conservatory in

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865– ...

as well as at the Holy Cross Covent in

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the ...

. Her first book was a children's story, ''Die Twaalfuurstokkie'' (The Twelve-o'-clock Stick), published in 1970. In 1982 a collection of short stories called ''Die Judasbok'' (The Judas Goat) was also published. Before gaining fame and wide acclaim for her first "forest novel", she also wrote stories for magazines as well as two popular novels – n Huis vir Nadia'' (A House for Nadia) (1982) and ''Petronella van Aarde, Burgemeester'' (Petronella van Aarde, Mayor) (1983). ''Kringe in 'n Bos'' ('' Circles in a Forest'') (1984) is a novel about the extermination of the Knysna elephants and the exploitation of the woodcutters of the

, and impacts on the forest elephants. It was an international success and was translated to several languages, with the author translating the book herself from Afrikaans to English. Two other highly successful "Forest Novels" followed: '' Fiela se Kind'' (''

Fiela's Child ''Fiela's Child'' is a South African drama written by Dalene Matthee and published in 1985. The book was originally written in Afrikaans under the name ''Fiela se Kind'', and was later translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, ...

'') in 1985 and ''Moerbeibos'' (The Mulberry Forest) in 1987. ''Brug van die Esels'' (Bridge of the Mules) was published in 1993, followed by ''Susters van Eva'' (Sisters of Eve) in 1995, ''Pieternella van die Kaap'' (Pieternella from the Cape) in 2000 and the fourth "Forest Novel" ''Toorbos'' (Dream Forest) in 2003. She won numerous literary prizes for her famous works, and ''

'' and '' Circles in a Forest'' were made into films. After a short sickbed caused by heart failure, she died in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

, South Africa, survived by her three daughters. Her husband, Larius, died in 2003.

Bibliography

The Forest Novels

* ''Kringe in 'n bos'' (Circles in a Forest) (1984) * ''Fiela se Kind'' (Fiela's Child) (1985) * ''Moerbeibos'' (The Mulberry Forest) (1987) * ''Toorbos'' (Dream Forest) (2003)

Other published works

* ''Die twaalfuurstokkie'' (The twelve-o'-clock stick) (1970) *''Die Judasbok'' (The Judas Goat) (1982) * n Huis vir Nadia'' (A House for Nadia) (1982) * ''Petronella van Aarde, Burgemeester'' (Petronella van Aarde, Mayor) (1983) * ''Brug van die esels'' (The Day the Swallows Spoke) (1992) * ''Susters van Eva'' (Sisters of Eve) (1995) * ''Pieternella van die Kaap'' (Pieternella, Daughter of Eva) (2000) * ''Die Uitgespoeldes'' (Driftwood) (2005)

Legacy

Matthee's ashes are scattered at Krisjan-se-Nek, one of her favourite places in the Knysna Forest. In 2008, a memorial was erected here in her memory and the 800-year-old Yellowwood tree standing at that location was renamed Dalene Matthee Big Tree. The name of the hiking trail starting at Krisjan-se-Nek is now called the Circles in a Forest Trail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthee, Dalene 1938 births 2005 deaths People from Hessequa Local Municipality Afrikaans-language writers South African women novelists 20th-century South African novelists 20th-century women writers