In My Brilliant Career, the ironically titled and exuberant first novel by Miles Franklin, Sybella relates her story of growing up passionate and rebellious in rural New South Wales, where the most that girls could hope for was to marry or to teach. Sybella will do neither, but that doesn’t stop her from falling in love, and it doesn’t make the choices any easier. Headstrong and imaginative, Sybylla Melvyn is one of the most endearing heroines of Australian literature.
In the sequel to My Brilliant Career, My Career Goes Bung, Sybylla is revisited -a little older and wiser, but with the same spirit, sensitivity and forthrightness. After the success of her autobiography Sybylla discovers the literati of Sydney, dealing with patrons, critics and suitors in her own inimitable way.
