My Brilliant Career

Sybilla Melville lives with her family on their farm. Life is quite comfortable until her father decides to relocate the family to another property which ends in the family living in poverty. Sybilla is 16 and not happy with her lifestyle. Her mother wants her to get a job to earn money to support the family. When her grandmother and aunt invite Sybilla to stay on their property, Sybilla quickly accepts and enjoys living in a more comfortable lifestyle. She also meets a local landowner, Harold, who shows an interest in her. 

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin is the story of a young girl's life as recounted by Sybilla. Sybilla is conscious that she is not a beauty when compared with other young women and seems incapable of accepting that outward beauty is not the prime accessory to a successful life. She is well aware that she is expected to marry and be a good wife supporting her husband but Sybilla is convinced that there is more to life than that.

Then Sybilla's life changes again during the 1890s depression and she is forced to work as a governess on a farm owned by a friend of her father. She knows that there is more to life than this and struggles to survive supporting her family. Living back home Sybilla continues to struggle fitting in with family life. The title of the book comes from from a statement made by Sybilla when she has yet another an argument with her mother. This was life – my life – my career, my brilliant career!

My Brilliant Career was published in 1901 and is a story about life faced by many women at that time. It was withdrawn from publication by the author in 1910 but republished after her death. The edition that I read is a Text Classic published in 2012 with many reprints, the latest in 2025.

Miles Franklin left money in her will for an annual award for Australian authors - The Miles Franklin Award. 

My Brilliant Career was one of the books on the shortlist for Monash University Alumni Book Club for January 2027.

Further reading: 

My Brilliant Career - National Museum of Australia

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin - Bookshelf Fantasies 

My Brilliant Career - Bayside Council Libraries