A coming-of-age story set in the Australian bush, originally published in 1901. Sybylla Melvin is a misfit. She barely endures the dreary life of dairy farming in a family that can hardly make ends meet. Out of the blue, she is invited to move back to the family property, Caddagat, to live with Grannie, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Jay Jay. With a cast of interesting neighbors and friends, Sybylla finally seems to discover hope in the world. She is nourished by thoughtful conversation, books, and music. Harold Beecham's love, however, throws her into indecision and painful tension. Will she be satisfied with following the well-trodden path of marriage - a path she perceives as demeaning and restrictive? And when she is abruptly sent away from Caddagat to help pay family debts, her "brilliant career" takes a disruptive turn
Study Guides
Lit Charts
My Brilliant Career Study Guide | Literature Guide | LitCharts
Lindsay's English Tutoring
An Ultimate Guide to My Brilliant Career (lindseyenglishtutoring.com)
Click on the image of Talbingo, the homestead where Miles Franklin was born to discover more about this great Australian author.
Click on the above image of a couple marrying in the 1890s to read a timeline of marriage changes in Australia.
A brief overview of life in Australia for women in 1894. From the S.A government.
Office for Women - Life in 1894
Description of marriage clothes and accessories in 1890.
Lilian’s wedding dress | National Museum of Australia (nma.gov.au)
Timeline of achievements for women's rights in Australia including the dismantling of the 'marriage bar'.
Gender Equality Timeline - Victorian Women's Trust (vwt.org.au)
Search for videos
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Click on the image below to read about the Brindabella region of NSW where My Brilliant Career is set.
Other context & background resources.
From Austlit, a range of links that take you to background information on the novel.
Reading Australia - My Brilliant Career - Miles Franklin | AustLit
A contextual essay on the novel written by Susan K Martin.
My Brilliant Career - Reading Australia
A critical study of My Brilliant Career and of Miles Franklin.
Henrietta Dugdale Diary of Anne Drysdale Vida Goldstein
Resources
Henrietta Dugdale
Below is a primary source letter from Henrietta Dugdale to the Melbourne Argus on reasons why a woman should not marry a man.
Anne Drysdale
Ladies of Boronggoop | Ergo (slv.vic.gov.au)
Vida Goldstein
Vida Goldstein | Ergo (slv.vic.gov.au)
Vida Goldstein (1869 - 1949) – Old Treasury Building
Who was Vida Goldstein? - ABC News
Suffragists in the 1890s
Women's Suffrage | National Library of Australia (nla.gov.au)
Women’s suffrage | National Museum of Australia (nma.gov.au)
Women’s Movements 1880-1960 (unimelb.edu.au)
Gender Equality Timeline - Victorian Women's Trust (vwt.org.au)
Louisa Lawson
Louisa Lawson - The Australian Media Hall of Fame (melbournepressclub.com)
Lawson, Louisa | The Dictionary of Sydney
'Marriage to me appeared the most horribly tied-down and unfair-to-women existence going. It would be from fair to middling if there was love; but I laughed at the idea of love, and determined never, never, never to marry.'
“Yes, I once was foolish enough to try and be polite, but I’ve given it up. My style of talk is quite good enough for my company.'
'I am unfit for a man's career, so I have chosen a woman's.'
'No doubt there are many reasons why I should not want a lover; one strong reason is that I have not met a single man I could like enough to even try and love.'
One effective strategy for improving retention is note taking – not just because you’ll have a written record to refer to in the future, but also because the actual act of taking notes can help cement concepts in your mind. There is no single way of taking notes. Browse these resources to find what suits you.
Tips on how to organise the information you've read into a useful set of notes State Library of Victoria - Ergo
Once you've read this, watch the Cornell Method video. This is an excellent strategy.
Note-taking (University of Melbourne)
Click on the image above to go to a brief bio portrait of Miles Franklin.
A newspaper article from the Tumut and Adelong Times in 1904 describing the publication of My Brilliant Career and its reception in the literary community.
Henry Lawson Adam Lindsay Gordon A.B 'Banjo' Patterson
Resources
Henry Lawson
Early years | Henry Lawson: poet of the people | Stories | State Library of NSW
About Henry Lawson - Henry Lawson Festival
Correspondence between Henry Lawson and Miles Franklin
Miles Franklin - correspondence with Henry Lawson, 1899 - 1902 (nsw.gov.au)
Miles Franklin to Henry Lawson, Bangalore, Goulburn 19 April 1900 | State Library of NSW
Banjo Patterson
Banjo Patterson - Visit Tenterfield | Tenterfield True
The papers of Banjo Paterson | National Library of Australia (nla.gov.au)
Adam Lindsay Gordon
Adam Lindsay Gordon -- Britannica School (eb.com.au)
From the Archives, 1870: Poet Adam Lindsay Gordon dies in Melbourne (smh.com.au)
Overview of The Bulletin magazine which Miles Franklin, Henry Lawson and many others were published in.
The Bulletin | National Museum of Australia (nma.gov.au)
Miss Franklin : how Miles Franklin's brilliant career began by 
Click on the above image to go to Encyclopaedia Brittanica. From there you can access the Primary, Middle and High levels of Brittanica.
Brittanica online provides research materials including articles, images and videos.
