Aileen Palmer poet, translator, political activist, adventurer was the daughter of two writers prominent in Australian literature in the first half of the twentieth century. Vance and Nettie Palmer were wellknown as critics, journalists and novelists, and Nettie suspected that their eldest would grow up with ink in her veins.
Aileen certainly inherited her parents talents, translating the work of Ho Chi Minh, publishing poetry, and recording what she referred to as semi-fictional bits of egocentric writing. She also absorbed their interest in leftist politics; this, combined with her bravery, led to participation in the Spanish Civil War and the ambulance service in London during World War II.
The return to Australia was not easy, and Aileen never successfully reintegrated into civilian life. In Ink in Her Veins Sylvia Martin paints an honest and moving portrait in which we see a talented woman slowly brought down by war, family expectations, and psychiatric illness and the sometimes cruel treatments common in the 20th century.
