[3] In Our Hands (1942),[2] set in Perth, concerned "a group of interesting young moderns ... brought sharply up against the war"; it was considered to be "a forerunner of good things to come", "the characterisation in some cases excellent and the dialogue bright".

[7] Her second book, The Sky Has Its Clouds (1944),[2] was "a colourful novel involving the fortunes of an interesting group of people, with a ballerina in the leading role",[8] and covered the period from 1920 to the outbreak of war, moving from a small Australian country town to Europe.

One reviewer found it "very entertaining",[9] another judged it "a well-constructed, fast-moving tale which holds the reader's interest from first page to last",[10] and another considered that with it, "Miss Backhouse has established a very definite place for herself in the community of Australian authors.

Reviews were mixed, with critics' opinions ranging from "skilfully written",[12] "ambitious ... strong enough to overcome [its] handicap[s]",[13] to "readable",[14] "too long",[15] "rather dull".

Backhouse published two books in 1946, one a children's story, Enone and Quentin, and the other a modern novel, Leaves in the Wind, set in Western Australia and featuring three young women and their mothers.

[17][18] Enone and Quentin, "a fairy book full of romance and make-believe",[19] was warmly received, with one reviewer describing it as "sheer delight, with fantasy as free as a child's heart.

"[20] The same reviewer wrote that "it seems Miss Backhouse shudders away from suffering ... and cannot ask her readers to face anything but a happy ending", and that Leaves in the Wind, "a story of 3 illegitimate girls, is literally too good to be true.

"[20] In mid 1946, Backhouse travelled to England,[21] where she lived for five years[3] and worked for film producer Alexander Korda,[1][5] writing scenarios.

Against Time and Place (1990) relates the stories of four generations of her family, particularly the women,[1] in Yorkshire, England and then in Western Australia and other Australian states.