Miles Franklin Undercover: The Little-Known Years When She Created Her Own Brilliant Career

By Kerrie Davies

After the success and celebrity of her coming of age novel My Brilliant Career, published when Miles Franklin was only 21, she disappeared. This is the story of the decade that made her second career as a fearless advocate for working women.

'There is a theory that any woman can be rescued from the shoals of failure and despair by finding some man to ask her in marriage, but before I could be happy in love I should at least need to realize myself.'

She dazzled Australia with her rebellious novel My Brilliant Career, inspiring generations of young women chafing under conventional expectations. Only 21, Miles Franklin, was lauded as the Bronte of the bush, and feted by the rich and influential.

But fame can be deceptive. In reality, the book earned her a pittance. The family farm was sold, her new novels were rejected, and she was broke. Just two years after her debut, Miles disappeared.

In this real-life sequel to My Brilliant Career, author Kerrie Davies uncovers a little-known period in Miles' life, from the servant's quarters of Sydney and Melbourne's wealthy houses to volatile Chicago, in the turbulent years after her early success. Davies draws 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.

Miles Undercover is a powerful story of a young woman's enduring resilience, and her determination to always be her own heroine.

'Captures a wonderful sense of Miles as a person. A fascinating page turner.' - Gillian Armstrong, director of the movie My Brilliant Career

'A captivating read - Miles comes alive' - Brigitta Olubas, author of Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1761470930
• ISBN13: 9781761470936
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.2"