My Brilliant Career

A self-defined Plain Jane always on the edge of poverty takes us to the late 19th century Australian desert farm hard life. *My Brilliant Career* is quite different. Sybylla has poor self-esteem and an ornery contrariness. Most of the elders are narrow-minded with calcified concepts of right and wrong and little conversation topics more interesting than the going price of butter.Whip-smart Sybylla gets through her life of being farmed out with a sardonic sense of humor, inner pride, and just a flicker of optimism.She does a brilliant job of evoking the personalities and characteristics of the people. The slangy dialect is challenging to read; Kindle or a well-annotated edition is a must to understand Aussie words like jackeroo.Some will find the reading level too demanding or the subject matter too mundane. It is pretty much sink or swim.

I enjoyed reading this after visiting Australia for the first time last year and learning first hand more about the Australian way of life.A heart-wrenching depiction of the toughness of Australian pastoral life when the elements are not in your favour, as well as a testament to the resilience of the people who worked on ‘the land’. It is, of course, also a pioneering feminist work, focusing as it does on Sybylla’s fiercely independent personality and her determination not to be shackled by the traditional role of women of that era (1900s), and to pursue a “brilliant career”. The writing is evocative … you can feel the dust of drought in your hair, and the angst of hearts breaking.

This is the story of a gifted spirited young girl in her late teens, struggling to maintain her humanity and independence while feeling crushed by the toils of homesteading in the Australian Outback. She also fights against the stereotypical roles of women at the turn of the century. This book was published under a male pseudonym , beautifully written, with heartfelt descriptions of the stark harsh life there and of the writer's intense desire to be free to pursue her creative dreams. This book is suitable for women of all ages and in any era.

Miles Franklin's writing is so vivid that you almost feel you know this character. Upon investigating online, youdiscover that she did not write an autobiography. I felt very let down. I see that she has written "Diaries" andI am anxious to read that. I want to know who Miles Franklin really is. You can realize how the poor peoplelived in Australia in the turn of the century and also how the higher classes lived. The book left me very unsettleduntil I learn more about her.

The story of a young girl growing up in poverty in Australia's bush at the turn of the century. An interesting read, telling a very Australian story. The author is also quite unique, as it was written by young girl under a pseudonym. Sometimes tedious but ultimately a fun way to explore Australian culture.

I read this book and saw the film many years ago. Much of its appeal came from the revelation of some aspects of Australian life.

Loved the movie, loved the book, My career goes Bung is another book by Franklin that I thoroughly enjoyed. She has a contemplative style that I enjoy, along with her choices and how hard those choices really are.

One of the greatest coming of age stories ever, especially for girls...the author was only 16 years old when she began writing it. As a man, I enjoyed reading it. And I have retained much of it in my memory. I bought this edition for my grand daughter.

This is classic Australian fiction, written at the turn of the century. Because of the period and the location, much of the vocabulary is non-standard English. Unfortunately this digital version seems to have been created by scanning an original hard copy and then using software to interpret the scan. Without any proof reading, which would presumably have cost something. The result is sometimes gibberish, sometimes obvious typos and sometimes confusion about what the author really intended. This type of digitisation gets ebooks a bad name and highlights the fact that cheap ebooks are often bad value. Based on this, second hand book shops have a healthy future.

Well written telling of Sybilla’s young life, evocative descriptions of the landscapes of landlocked Australia. Her decision not to marry, her rejection of Hal, all wonderfully captured. A classic!

Interesting. I felt I learnt a lot about the Australia of the past. Beautiful descriptions, main character a bit annoying.

Sybylla is headstrong, feisty, opinionated and independent. At the start of the book she is a teenager growing up in rural Australia in the 1890s in a very poor household with an alcoholic father and a mother who has come from money and is now living in poverty.To Sybylla's relief, her much wealthier Grandmother asks to take her for a time to "straighten" her out and Sybylla finds a much more comfortable life, until she is ultimately forced to take a role as a governess and decide what her future 'career' shall be. Wife? Governess? Spinster daughter?I absolutely loved the time and place. It is so different to the Australia I know, but also had the familiar descriptions of oppressive heat, dry ground and smell of eucalyptus. The writing is very well done and is interesting to think about how Ms Franklin was able to get support from Henry Lawson to have this published with what must have been quite a controversial main character for the time.As the book reached its conclusion, however, I really found Sybylla quite irritating. I was hoping for a bit more personality growth and maturity and I was actually left really disappointed with the ending. Although I suppose that is what also makes this a unique book as the ending was quite unusual for the time and unexpected.A classic I am glad to have finally read!

The hero of this novel is Sybylla Melvyn, a teenager growing up in rural New South Wales in the 1890s. Her father, Richard Melvyn, made a series of questionable business decisions which against a background of drought, reduced the family circumstances from some comfort to subsistence levels. Richard Melvyn drinks to escape, Sybylla’s mother struggles and Sybylla is not enjoying her life.‘Weariness! Weariness! This was my life—my life—my career, my brilliant career! I was fifteen—fifteen!’Sybylla is sent to stay with her grandmother and aunt, and finds life much more comfortable. She meets a wealthy young man, Harold Beecham, but refuses to take him seriously when he proposes marriage to her. Shortly afterwards, Sybylla is summoned home. Her father’s drinking has now increased her family’s indebtedness to the extent where Sybylla is required to serve as a governess to an almost illiterate family of neighbours.‘A woman is but the helpless tool of man—a creature of circumstances.’After becoming ill, Sybylla returns home. Harold Beecham, who has suffered his own ups and downs in fortune returns to ask her to marry him. But Sybylla refuses, and the novel ends with no hint of any brilliance in Sybylla’s future.I finished this novel resolving to read the rest of Miles Franklin’s works (as well as those she wrote under the pseudonym of ‘Brent of Bin Bin’). This is one of very few novels I’ve read where marriage was not the preferred option for a female. When I first read it (in the 1970s), I took this for granted. Reading it again, I’m more aware of how unusual this was for a novel written in the late nineteenth century.Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (14/10/1879 – 19/9/1954) – Miles Franklin— was born in Talbingo, on the edge of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. ‘My Brilliant Career’ was her first book, first published in 1901 when she was aged 21. While the novel was successful when first published, Miles Franklin withdrew it from publication because she was upset that so many people considered the novel autobiographical. Was it autobiographical? I wonder. I first read the novel some 40 years ago, and recently reread it as part of my quest to read more books written by Australian Women Writers.Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I am supposed to read "My Brilliant Career" for my book club. When this book arrived, I found out that it is not the original novel by Miles Franklin, but rather it has been re-written for children! It should say this in its description, because I had to send it back. This book is only about 65 pages long whereas the original novel by Miles Franklin is 232 pages long.

Beautiful, sad. It paints a great picture of life in Australia in the late 19th Century. The characters are interesting and well written and the story is very believable. Essential reading.

well written but I found the plot a bit disappointing

Loved it easy ready makes you smile and angry good insight into those times.

What a load of adolescent twaddle. Really needs to get over herself. Might recommend to a 15 year old who thinks they are the only person in the universe so they have a friend!

A story of Australia a century ago, once well known. It deserves to be read by this generation of readers. Sad, and very real portrayal of life.