Synopses & Reviews
Born in the Australian bush, Stella Miles Franklin became an international publishing sensation in 1901, at the age of 21, with
My Brilliant Career, whose portrayal of an ambitious and independent woman defying social expectations still captivates readers. In a magisterial biography, Jill Roe details Miles' extraordinary life.
Early success launched Miles into influential literary and socialist circles in Sydney and Melbourne, where she met Banjo Paterson (composer of "Waltzing Matilda" and author of The Man from Snowy River) and suffragist Vida Goldstein (who introduced her to Christian Science). Researching the lives of working women, Miles disguised herself as a domestic for a year. She then lit out for adventure abroad, landing in San Francisco just after the Great Earthquake. At Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago, she joined the women's labor movement, working for the National Women's Trade Union League and writing for its magazine.
Moving to Britain in 1915, Miles joined the war cause and served in Macedonia as a hospital orderly and then worked in London for various feminist and progressive causes, including the National Housing Council. Always she wrote, becoming a prolific author of plays as well as novels and archetypal bush stories. Returning to Australia in the 1930s, she supported women's causes and promoted Australian writers, leaving her estate to endow the nation's premier literary award.
The culmination of decades of research in thousands of papers left by Miles, Her Brilliant Career stands as the definitive life of this remarkable writer and feminist.
Review
It is without doubt the most comprehensive account of Franklin's brilliant career. -- B. J. Goetz - Choice
Synopsis
Born in the Australian bush, Stella Miles Franklin became an international publishing sensation in 1901, at the age of 21, with My Brilliant Career, whose portrayal of an ambitious and independent woman defying social expectations still captivates readers. In a magisterial biography, Jill Roe details Miles' extraordinary life.
Synopsis
2009 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, Faculty of Arts, University of Queensland
Synopsis
2010 Adelaide Festival Award for Literature, Non-Fiction Category
About the Author
Jill Roe is Professor Emerita at Macquarie University. She has taught at Macquarie University, Sydney, and Harvard University.
Macquarie University
Table of Contents
- Map
- Prologue
- Part I: Australia: 1879–April 1906
- 1. Childhood at Brindabella: 1879–1889
- 2. Near Goulburn: 1890–1898
- 3. From ‘Possum Gully’ to Penrith: 1899–1902
- 4. With Penrith as a Base: 1903–April 1906
- Part II: America: May 1906–October 1915
- 5. Among the ‘Murkans’: May 1906–February 1911
- 6. The Net of Circumstance: March 1911–October 1915
- Part III: England & Australia: November 1915–December 1932
- 7. Pack Up Your Troubles—London and the Balkans: November 1915–September 1918
- 8. At the Heart of the Empire: October 1918–October 1923
- 9. To be a Pilgrim: November 1923–June 1927
- 10. Enter Brent of Bin Bin: July 1927–December 1932
- Part IV: Australia: January 1933–September 1954
- 11. ‘As a Natural Fact’: 1933–1938
- 12. Maintaining Our Best Traditions: 1939–1945
- 13. The Waratah Cup: 1946–1950
- 15. ‘Shall I Pull Through?’: 1951–1954
- Afterlife
- Appendices
- Principal Published Writings of Miles Franklin
- Franklin and Bridle/Lampe Family Trees
- Endnotes
- Brief Guide to Main and Frequently Cited Sources and Titles of General Significance
- Acknowledgments
- Index