According to the author, ow did Dinesen's childhood influence her writing in the biography, Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller?

Historically, monarchies were giving way to various forms of democracies shortly before Dinesen was born. Her mother's family represented the wealthy middle class, and her father personified the adventure-seeking aristocrats. Thus, one of the central themes in Dinesen's novels had to do with the differences between the wealthy upper middle class and the old aristocratic families.