Some Everyday Folk and Dawn

By Miles Franklin

Book Overview

Miles Franklin's "Some Everyday Folk and Dawn" offers a glimpse into Australian domestic and rural life through the eyes of a compelling female protagonist. A significant work of Australian literature, this novel explores themes of coming-of-age within a specific cultural heritage.

This meticulously prepared edition invites readers to experience a timeless story of ordinary lives and the promise of a new beginning. Delve into the everyday challenges and quiet triumphs of its characters, painted against the backdrop of the Australian landscape. Franklin's insightful portrayal of women and her exploration of cultural identity resonate with enduring power. "Some Everyday Folk and Dawn" remains a captivating read for anyone interested in literary fiction that captures the spirit of a place and time.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1023152819
• ISBN13: 9781023152815
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: Anson Street Press
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Not an Everyday Book

This is a terrifically funny novel, written in a breathless, rambling style, that takes a little bit of dedication to make friends with. I'm the sort of dedicated fan of Miles Franklin who doesn't mind the here and now of the first few chapters, but someone not so big a fan wouldn't be quite as interested in the point of view character's opinion of the minutiae that Franklin chronicles, before she gets right down to things. For example, Franklin brings too many characters at once into the story, instead of holding them off until they become necessary to the plot. She has these characters so well developed in her mind, that she can't resist sharing them in clever detail; the result, however, is confusing. I'm fond enough of simply reading what Franklin has to say, that I don't mind, but I suspect many people would give up in frustration.Maybe the reader could skim the first chapter for proper names and highlight them, then go back for quick reference when the characters become part of the story.The story itself is brilliant: the vote has come to women in Australia, and in the small town of Noonoon, the two male candidates have posited themselves, one as the "women's" candidate, and the other as the "men's." The women's candidate spends his campaign shamelessly flirting, while the men's candidate grunts, stomps around, chops a lot of wood, and questions the masculinity of his opponent.Dawn, the title character, is a beautiful young woman, the granddaughter of the narrator's landlady, with whom the narrator is quite taken. The narrator is a woman, and her attraction to Dawn is intense. It is never labeled as sexual attraction, and the narrator never makes any overtures that could be interpreted as such. What she does, however, is orchestrate a meeting between Dawn, and a young man of her acquaintance, who is very like herself, and whom she is absolutely convinced is the only man for Dawn, so by proxy, she in a sense, seduces Dawn.So all the while the narrator is endlessly amusing herself over the silliness of the local election, and sharing her disdain with Dawn, whom she considers superior to the "everyday folk" that populate Noonoon, she is herself engaging in her own silly subterfuge, and blithely unaware of the self-serving motive behind her orchestrations.Miles Franklin was just twenty when she wrote this book, but has remarkable insight into the mind of a middle-aged woman. She is also already a master of the type of prose that keeps you giggling as you read. Even though Franklin has presented the narrator as lacking in personal insight, she still has lent the narrator her own gift for the amusing quip. Every description is perfectly apt and perfectly amusing.If you're looking for something to read that's out of the ordinary, without being out of this world, you'll find it here. I recommend this book, and anything by Miles Franklin.