Inseparable Elements: Dame Mary Durack

Dame Mary Durack Miller was born into a pastoral legacy that made her name famous even before she became one of Australia’s most popular literary doyennes of the 20th century. Best known for her history of the Durack family, Kings in Grass Castles, Dame Mary was married to aviation pioneer Horrie Miller and was a sibling to the artist Elizabeth Durack. Among the multifarious threads woven into her life, she became a friend and confident to many celebrated writers, actors, and artists. Drawing on a great accumulation of first-hand sources, principally her mother’s diaries and correspondence, Patsy Millett’s book is about a well-known family who saw their prospects as blighted. Written from the unique perspective of someone born into the wash-up of the Durack dynasty, Patsy says her account ‘will be controversial, as the reality behind the generally accepted facts has never been told.’ Millet’s story is unflinching. Her sharp, insightful prose and acerbic wit create an intimate portrait of an extraordinary writer whose family life was filled with triumph and tragedy.

Patsy Millett is the eldest daughter of the six children of pioneering aviator H.C. (Horrie) Miller and the author Dame Mary Durack Miller. Born at the outbreak of World War II and educated in Perth, WA, she travelled frequently to the West and East Kimberley regions where her family had property and pastoral stations. On leaving school she was employed in various capacities in Perth, London, and Canada. A regular contributor of book reviews for the ABC and Sunday Times, she also wrote a humorous column for the Sunday Independent.