Folio Archives 282: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin 1983

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Folio Archives 282: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin 1983

1wcarter
Modifié : Août 4, 2022, 6:15 am

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin 1983

The author’s full name, Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879 – 1954) reveals her femininity, which she initially tried to hide in order to have the book published.

This is a magnificent semi-biographical novel by one of Australia’s best authors. Sadly, this was her only really successful novel, but she made writing her career, and is remembered fondly by the Australians who read it. Her fame is further perpetuated in Canberra, where the school attended by my grandsons is named after her.

Set in the Australian bush of south central NSW in the 1890s, the story follows the life of a girl from childhood to her late teens as she lives the life of luxury on a squatter’s# holding, then faces poverty, hardship, love, and the realities of life in an unforgiving environment subject to drought, fire and flood. The story is compelling as Franklin lived or observed the styles of life described first-hand.

It is a story of awakening as she progresses from girl to woman, and copes with the varying social mores in the different rural and township environments she experiences as she moves between different members of her extended family. It describes outback life in both opulence and squaller.

Bound in bright blue cloth blocked on the covers with a black and gilt image by Sue Bradbury, the 255 page book is a delightfully easy read. The light blue endpapers are printed with several dark blue drawings, and there are a further 54 full page and integrated drawings by Dodie Masterman scattered through the book. There is a ten page introduction by Joan Aiken, the page tops are stained light blue and the textured cream slipcase measures 23.7x16.4cm.

#In the early days of Australian settlement, adventurous men headed into the outback, found an unclaimed area of land, pegged its boundaries and stayed (squatted) there to claim ownership. Huge tracts of land were claimed in this way, and many of the squatters became very wealthy running sheep and cattle.









































































An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.

2terebinth
Août 5, 2022, 11:23 am

Many thanks, after reading most of the pages above I'm intrigued and enabled (and at modest cost).

3Jeremy53
Août 6, 2022, 7:11 am

I have this edition, and loved reading it - full of energy and the joy of life.