Ask Your Reading Guide a thoughtful companion for reading Franklin's yarn, here to help you read Miles Franklin's My Brilliant Career closely — its bush setting, its history, and its ideas.
Getting Oriented Why do Henry Lawson's preface and Franklin's own introduction both insist this isn't a novel or a romance? What does Sybylla mean when she says she makes 'no apologies for being egotistical'? How does the move from the high country to Possum Gully change the Melvyn family's fortunes? What kind of narrator is Sybylla — how much should I trust her account of herself?
Reading Sybylla Why does Sybylla insist she's plain and unlovable when other characters clearly disagree? What does Sybylla actually want out of life, beyond escaping Possum Gully? How does Franklin use humor and self-mockery to make Sybylla's hardships bearable to read? Why might a 21-year-old have written this book as a 'yarn' instead of a conventional romance?