Blog Nº 23
“I am afflicted with the power of thought, which is a heavy curse. The less a person thinks and inquires regarding the why and the wherefore and the justice of things, when dragging along through life, the happier it is for him, and doubly, trebly so, for her.”
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good old Australian novel, and I was not disappointed by My Brilliant Career. Written in 1901, the year of the Federation of Australia, this novel is unashamedly sharp, romantic and vivacious. I read it in a matter of days, being so taken in by the entirely convincing narrative voice and vivid display of Australian life.
My Brilliant Career is told in the first-person narrative by sixteen-year-old protagonist Sybylla Melvyn. For the first part of her childhood, Sybylla loves life with her family in rural Australia. She is clever and devours any book in sight, reading works extremely advanced for her age. When a series of poor business decisions from her father relegate the family from owning a sprawling cattle station to subsistence farming in the outback, teenage Sybylla becomes frustrated and bored with the hardship and monotony of life. She longs for a more refined lifestyle where she would be surrounded by likeminded others who enjoy intellectual thinking, reading and music. To aid the struggling family, Sybylla’s grandmother offers to take Sybylla in to live with her at her gracious property Caddagat. Sybylla fits right in at Caddagat; her sharp tongue, wit and frankness are a triumph among her extended family and for Caddagat’s wealthy neighbour, the handsome Harold Beecham, who becomes completely enamoured with her. Over the next two years, Sybylla will find herself choosing between everything a conventional life offers and her own plans for a ‘brilliant career’.
What is amazing about this book is the link between Sybylla and the author. Sybylla Melvyn is based on the author Miles Franklin (Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin). Sybylla’s childhood timeline is very similar to that of Franklin’s – for example, Franklin’s grandmother’s property Talbingo was simply renamed Caddagat in My Brilliant Career. Like Sybylla, Franklin was set on having a career in music. Reduced family circumstances making this impossible, Franklin turned to writing and as such wrote My Brilliant Career at age sixteen. The sheer literary skill, wide-ranging vocabulary and vibrant narrative are simply astonishing given that the author is a sixteen-year-old girl with an unconventional education, notwithstanding that the book was “conceived and tossed off in a matter of weeks” as a romance to amuse her friends. Furthermore, Franklin’s (and therefore Sybylla’s) burning desire to have her own career rather than do what was expected and marry is a view far more akin to feminists of the 1960s and 70s rather than of a teenage girl born and raised in the Australian outback at the turn of the century. For me, this novel indicates that someone’s sheer genius can shine through no matter what circumstances they have grown up in.
I think the fact that Franklin is the same age as the protagonist really helps legitimise Sybylla’s narrative voice. As you read, it is completely clear that the author is also a teenage girl – on the one hand Sybylla is unapologetically passionate and unpredictable, while on the other she carries insecurities about her looks and personality, portrayed like this in a way that only someone feeling the same things could. The narrative style is quite different to other books from the time that I’ve read; it is impetuous and brazen much like the mind of a teenage girl. Towards the end of My Brilliant Career, when the romance is heating up between Sybylla and Harry Beecham, I was completely hooked as Sybylla lays bare her emotions – torn between her desire for independence and her affection for Harry. I, like many other female readers I’m sure, felt that whatever decision she made, the outcome would be bittersweet.
Overall, I was completely blown away by My Brilliant Career and think it is an essential read for any young person, especially young women. It is engaging, emotional, humorous and offers a candid representation of Australian life in the late 1800s/early 1900s. This was only the beginning of Franklin’s success and I take comfort in the fact that she did indeed get to have a ‘brilliant career’.
Happy reading,
Imo x
ImoReads 