The Diaries of Miles Franklin

The private diaries of Miles Franklin, author of My Brilliant Career and founder of the most prestigious literary award in Australia, are published here for the first time.

Few Australian writers have left such revealing, engaging and scintillatingly witty diaries. Bequeathed to Sydney's Mitchell Library and embargoed by Franklin for the ten years following her death, the diaries in fact had to be restricted for much longer owing to Franklin's candid comments on the manners and morals of her contemporaries.

Lionised in 1901 as the precocious author of promise on publishing My Brilliant Career at the age of twenty-one, Franklin was out of Australia almost continuously from 1906. Upon her return permanently in 1932 at the age of fifty-three, she plunged into the local literary scene with gusto, soon achieving prominence. She published regularly until her death and achieved notable success in 1936 with her prize-winning All That Swagger. She was always a passionate spokeswoman for Australian literature.

Miles Franklin was vibrant, an astute critic, with a huge capacity for life. But not far below the surface was a creeping melancholy' and a sense of failure which was revealed to few. In her mind, she had never fulfilled her early promise.

These diaries, fully annotated, begin with a comprehensive introduction to Franklin's life and work. Richly illustrated with photos of Miles Franklin and some of the friends and enemies so skilfully dissected within the pages, this book is a complete delight.