Suwarsih Djojopuspito

[2][3] Among her most well-known works are the semi-autobiographical novel Buiten het gareel (1940) and the short story collection Empat Serangkai (1954).

[6] Her father was apparently a gifted storyteller and also believed in equality for his female children, which is why he made a strong effort to give them a good education.

[6] Her sister Suwarni was involved in a "wild school" in Bandung which did not accept government funding, but which attempted to give a European-style education to young nationalist students.

[9] It was during this time that she started writing semi-autobiographical novels Marjanah and Buiten het gareel (Dutch: out of line, or literally "out of the harness").

[10] Buiten het gareel describes the life of Indonesian teachers in "wild schools", their dedication to Sukarno's nationalist movement and their struggles with poverty and exclusion.

[3][10] She discussed the matter with literary critic E. du Perron, who suggested she rewrite it or rework it into a new Dutch language novel, and gave her feedback on the manuscript.