Hella S. Haasse (1918 - 2011) was born in Jakarta (then called Batavia). During her long career as a writer she published various autobiographical works with reminiscences of her youth in the Dutch Indies (now Indonesia). Several of these works were excerpted in Het dieptelood van de herinnering. Unfortunately, this is not an omnibus edition, but more like an anthology bringing together essays and autobiographical writings from various periods and various books, including Een handvol achtergrond. However, Een handvol achtergrond. 'Parang Sawat‘ Autobiografische teksten in turn is also a compilation of texts sampled from (partly) the same sources, notably Zelfportret als legkaart (1954) and Krassen op een rots (1970).

Haasse grew up in the Dutch Indies and left the colony in 1938, not to return until 1969, as the Second World War in the Indonesian War of Independence blocked an earlier return. Most texts are descriptions of memories or revisits, dated 1954, 1969, 1985 and 1992. ( )