Many Australians are familiar with the 1901 book, My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. I love it! Therefore there was no doubt I would be more than intrigued to pick up this debut novel by Amy that reimagines the lives of both Stella ‘Miles’ Franklin and her sister Linda. This book explores on many levels what is brilliant for women in life across the ages and in varying roles. Being the polar opposite of her wild and wayward sister, Linda is the quiet and conventional sister, who married and sadly died of pneumonia at age 25.

With both historical and contemporary timelines, My Brilliant Sister explores how women of yesteryear and today have struggled and continue to struggle to find balance. It asks questions about sisterhood, what is it to be brilliant and what makes a good, meaningful life.

Rating: 3.5/5

Amy Brown's debut novel 'My Brilliant Sister' is an innovative sensation that encapsulates sisterhood in its many forms.

The novel features three storytellers which weave together a heartwarming and connected production. We first meet Ida, who is a teacher and young mother in the midst of the COVID pandemic. When Ida begins to write again, she begins to think of Stella Mile's Franklin's autobiographical novel My Brilliant Career and her unknown and provincial sister Linda. We then get to know Linda through the author's imagining of her childhood and experience in contrast to Stella's in My Brilliant Career. We also meet a contemporary Stella who is a musician in personal and professional limbo due to the pandemic.

When I started reading, I wasn't really sure what this book was going to be but I am glad that I stuck with it past my discomfort as upon finishing the novel, I could see how the parts fit together and what Amy achieved. This is a novel about sisterhood (conventional and found), while examining wider discussion about changing societal values of womens roles in the world, and the more contemporary dilemma of children versus career. This book is so unique because it blends classical fiction with contemporary fiction, and it works. I fell in love with Linda through the mundanity of her life, and enjoyed getting to know both Stella and Ida. For fans of Wifedom, you will love this.

I wasn't really pulled into this book as much as I had hoped going in. I felt as though the book was quite slow but I think it was because this wasn't really my genre. I rated this book a 1.75 star mainly because I felt as though the writing was just not enough for my palette. The story followed 2 sisters. Stella, who ventured into the wider world, and her cherished sister Linda, who embraced a brief, domestic existence as a sister, mother, and wife. And although I really got to know Stella, I just felt like there could have been more to know especially with Linda.