Forrest, M. (Mabel), 1872-1935.
The wild moth / by M. Forrest. Popular ed. (London : Cassell, 1927)
Growing up in rural Australia, Mabel and her sister Ethel were educated at home by their mother “who spoke several languages fluently and had been to school in France and Germany.” Mabel had an unhappy first marriage with the selector, John Frederick Burkinshaw, who was unable to support Mabel and their daughter. Mabel began writing professionally as a means to support the family. In 1902, she divorced Burkinshaw and married John Forrest the same year. The theme of fidelity and betrayal were dominant themes in her work. Mabel became one of the most successful professional women writers in Australia of the early twentieth century and was an admired poet and short story writer. However, her most successful work was
The Wild Moth which tells the somewhat predictable story of the simple country girl who goes to the big smoke, is exploited and eventually returns home. A suitor who has known her when she was younger rescues her from attentions being forced upon her by a colleague of her father.
Charles Chauvel would turn the novel into the film, The Moth of Moonbi.
