The Very Secretive and Passionate Stella Miles Franklin

Australia, 1901. Just twenty years old and the daughter of struggling bush farmers, Miles Franklin pulls off the impossible—publishing My Brilliant Career, a fiery, fearless debut that takes the English-speaking world by storm. She hides behind a male pseudonym, but when her true identity is revealed, the backlash is swift and brutal.

Alone, broke, and undaunted, Miles sails for America. What follows is a wild, inspiring journey: years of activism, deep friendships, exhilarating love affairs, and an unshakable belief in the power of words. From the suffrage movement in Chicago to the cultural salons of Europe, she never stops writing, never stops fighting.

Eventually, she returns to Australia—to critics who had written her off—and delivers a dazzling comeback.

Today, her name is synonymous with Australia's most prestigious literary awards: the Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize. But behind the legend was a woman fiercely devoted to her freedom, her craft, and her ideals.

With a novelist's flair and a historian's eye, Alexandra Lapierre brings Miles Franklin to brilliant life in this vivid portrait of one of Australia's greatest literary trailblazers.

"A pure delight." - Elle

"Strikingly audacious!" - France Dimanche