Description

Ida Leeson was the first woman to be appointed Mitchell Librarian (in 1932) after a very public controversy over whether it was appropriate to appoint a woman to such a senior position. She was a close friend of many of the main literary figures in the inter-war period – most notably Miles Franklin, for whom she was a kind of honorary proof-reader and literary advisor. Also a close friend of Walter Burley Griffin and his wife, both Ida and her partner, Florence, lived for a time as part of the bohemian enclave the Griffins established around them at Castlecrag. Ida Leeson was both a working girl who had penetrated the bourgeoisie and a woman of achievement in what was still predominantly a man’s world. Here is a woman to inspire a new generation of readers – a truly remarkable life in an intriguing era.

ISBN: 9781741148503