Australian stories ยท Book guide
The Competition by Caroline Miley: an artist, the Luddites and Georgian England
Two hundred years ago a young London painter entered a competition that could make his career, and then found himself among the frame-breakers and food rioters of the northern mills. A historical novel about art, work and what counts as success.
The Listening ShelfUpdated 3 October 20262 min read
This page once held an earlier review by a different writer. This is a new page: a plain guide to the book, written from the book itself and its publisher's record, not a personal verdict.
The short answer
The Competition (2016) is Caroline Miley's first novel: a historical novel set in Georgian England. Painter Edward Armiger and his friends enter a Royal Academy painting competition that could establish the winner, but Edward is sent north into the world of woollen mills, Luddite frame-breaking and food riots, and comes back with ideas that put his career, friendships and love life at risk. For readers of literary historical fiction, and anyone interested in art or the history of work.
What it is about
Edward Armiger is a young painter in London at the start of the nineteenth century, a time of war, industrial change and radical ideas. He and his friends enter a competition at the Royal Academy that will make the winner's name. Then he is "pitchforked" into the north, among the woollen mills where skilled workers are losing their livelihoods to machines, and into the Luddite resistance and the food riots of the time.
When he returns to London, his new beliefs threaten his career and friendships, and his pursuit of love falters. In an interview, Miley described the book's real question as "what constitutes success, and what should you do to get it?"; the competition of the title is also the competition of life.
Who wrote it
Caroline Miley is an Australian art historian and painter who writes literary historical novels set in the late Georgian era. The Competition was shortlisted in Varuna's 2015 Publisher Introduction Program, and Miley says it won a Varuna Fellowship and a Fellowship of Australian Writers award, and was selected by the Royal Academy of Arts for its 250th anniversary celebrations. Her second novel, Artist on Campaign, followed in 2019.
Who it is for
- Readers of literary historical fiction who enjoy period detail.
- Anyone interested in the Industrial Revolution and the original Luddites, whose fight over skilled work and new machines feels current.
- Painters and art lovers: the book is written by someone who knows how pictures are made.
How to get it
We found no audiobook on Audible Australia, and it was not in either Libby catalogue we check, so this is one for print or ebook.
Common questions
What is The Competition by Caroline Miley about?
A young painter in Georgian England who enters a Royal Academy competition and is drawn into the Luddite uprisings in the northern woollen mills, which changes his ideas about art and success.
Who were the Luddites?
Skilled English textile workers who, from 1811, broke the new machines that were replacing their trades and cutting their wages. Their name has since come to mean anyone who resists new technology.