Review: Miles Franklin Undercover

Many Australians know and admire Miles Franklin. Her famous book, ‘My Brilliant Career’ (1901) is a national treasure. That novel follows the experiences of the rebellious sixteen-year-old Sybylla Melvyn and her journey to independence in a patriarchal society. Her book later became a movie and since the 1950s there is an annual award in her name to celebrate Australian literary excellence.

Therefore it was with great anticipation that Kerrie’s book has just been released this month. In this real-life sequel to ‘My Brilliant Career’, she uncovers a little-known period in Miles life drawing on a never-before published manuscript and diary extracts of Miles year undercover as a servant, intimate correspondence with poet Banjo Paterson, and archival sources from Australia and Chicago.

When the original book was published it earned very little and her later novels were rejected. Two years after publication Miles was broke and disappeared. This is a tale of her continued strength as she was determined to still be the heroine of her own story. Kerrie does an amazing job in capturing Miles voice in this creative bio fiction of her life until 1915.