My Brilliant Career

First published in 1901, this novel is the first-person account of Sybylla Melvyn, a girl growing up on a failing selection in the Australian bush and then among better-off relations. She wants books, music, and a life that is not only marriage and dairy work; her family want her settled. Harry Beecham, a young landowner, offers a future she both wants and refuses, while governess posts and household labour show her the narrow choices for a poor, educated woman. The bush stations, drought, and drawing-room visits are the setting. The book is a coming-of-age novel about a girl who will not trade independence for security.

Bound in bright blue cloth blocked on covers with a design in dark blue and gold by Sue Bradbury. Pale blue endleaves printed with images in dark blue. Page tops stained light blue. Pale yellow-brown textured slipcase.