
By Miles Franklin, Brian Harrison-Lever (Illustrator)
A young woman must choose between love and her artistic dreams.
Sybylla Melvyn dreams of a life in the arts, but poverty holds her back. When she moves in with wealthy relatives, she encounters a world of culture and meets Harold Beecham, who offers a life of comfort. Torn between a secure future and her passion for writing, Sybylla faces a choice that will define her destiny. Will she follow her heart or her dreams? Discover the path she takes in this tale of ambition and love.
Sybylla Melvyn yearns for a life in the arts. She loves music and is determined to write a book. But as the daughter of a poor dairy farmer, she despairs of ever realising her ambitions. Then comes the opportunity for Sybylla to go and live with wealthy relatives. In her new home she tastes a life of culture and refinement. She also meets handsome, rich Harold Beecham, who offers her a future most young women would dream of. But Sybylla is torn between a comfortable married life and the career she craves. Will Harold win her over? How will Sybylla live with the choice she makes? Real Reads are accessible texts designed to support the literacy development of primary and lower secondary age children while introducing them to the riches of our international literary heritage. Each book is a retelling of a work of great literature from one of the world’s greatest cultures, fitted into a 64-page book, making classic stories, dramas and histories available to intelligent young readers as a bridge to the full texts, to language students wanting access to other cultures, and to adult readers who are unlikely ever to read the original versions.
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