Her father was a Dutch Reformed minister from the Netherlands whilst her mother's family had been early emigrants to southern Africa.

Johanna (who calls herself "Hansie" in the book) is shown as headstrong, and she and her mother exploit the British estimation of the two Boer women as harmless.

[1] It was simply taken for granted that the two women in question were hopelessly cut off from all communication with their friends in the field, and utterly helpless and incapable of assisting their fellow-countrymen.

When the British declared war on Germany in August 1914, they transferred the garrison in South Africa to the European front.

Several Boer officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Manie Maritz, seized this opportunity to declare South Africa's independence.

When the Maritz Rebellion was crushed by the South African government 6 months later, the Nasionale Vroueparty, or National Women's Party, was formed in the Transvaal.

[2] After an alleged angel's revelation in 1916, Brandt is reported to have spoken of South Africans as the chosen race and of Johannesburg being attacked by black people.

[8] In 2000, the South African Post office created a series of stamps about the writers of the Boer War, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Winston Churchill.