My Brilliant Career
‘This was life – my life – my career,
my brilliant career! I was fifteen – fifteen!’
First published in 1901, My Brilliant Career is a powerful portrayal of life in turn-of-the-century rural Australia. Young, headstrong and born into a family dogged by misfortune, Sybylla Melvyn is determined to avoid the lot of young women – to escape the drudgery of farm life by finding a husband – and instead devotes herself to the arts, adamant she will one day make her way as a writer, actor, artist…
Through a series of bad business decisions Sybylla’s father fritters away the family fortunes, and the hapless teen – considered a burden by her mother – is sent to live with her grandmother, where life is comparatively blissful. When a dashing neighbour makes an appearance Sybylla’s nerve is tested – but Fate has one more hand to play.
Now a major Netflix series
‘An Australian literary milestone and a feminist classic.’ — Adam Sweeting, theartsdesk
‘Wonderfully lively and rebellious.’ — Luke Buckmaster, Guardian