Byline: JANE FREEMAN, RACHEL BUCHANAN

Controversy surrounding young Brisbane author Helen Demidenko, the winner of Australia's most prestigious literary award, intensified last nightafter her brother supported claims that she falsified her family history. Ms Demidenko's elder brother, Mr Iain Darville, who lives in Cairns, described her imaginary family history as a "great marketing exercise" that gave her prize winning novel credibility. "It made the story of the book seem more real," he said. "Helen is a storyteller. She was always good at telling crammers as a kid, as my very English grandmother would say. " In June, the 24-year-old accepted the Miles Franklin award as Helen Demidenko, the daughter of a Ukrainian immigrant and his Irish wife. Her book, The Hand That Signed the Paper, had been inspired by Nazi war crimes trials surrounding atrocities in the Treblinka concentration camp and the fear of how she would feel if her Ukrainian relatives had been involved, she said. Now it has been revealed that Ms Demidenko grew up under the name Helen Darville, the daughter of northern English immigrants, Harry and Grace Darville. Ms Demidenko had previously claimed that her father was an illiterate Ukrainian taxi driver called Markov Demidenko. Mr Darville said his sister knew that her novel would upset people and she had wanted to protect her family. "Let's face it, nobody, not even I, had any idea that the book was going to be as good as it was," he said. "Helen is a smart cookie; she was there when the brains were handed out. I think this will blow her credibility as a person fractionally,...