Book Description
Secondhand. Very good condition. Ex library copy with all external stickers removed. Small piece of sticky tape on front end paper has been covered with a blank ex libris sticker. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Dust jacket has some light creasing at edges and spine. Interior and binding are also very good.
The page-turning biography of an Australian woman who refused to bend to the expectations of her husband and her time.
Julia Sorell was an original. A colonial belle from Tasmania, vivacious and warm-hearted, Julia's marriage to Tom Arnold in 1850 propelled her into one of the most renowned families in England and into a circle that included Lewis Carroll and George Eliot. Her eldest daughter became a bestselling novelist, while her grandchildren included the writer Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, and the evolutionary biologist Julian Huxley.
With these family connections, Julia is a presence in many documented and famous lives, but she is a mostly silent presence. When extracted from her background of colonial life, extracted from the covers of marriage and family life, her story reveals an extraordinary woman, a paradox who defied convention as much as she embraced it.
Told with the pace, depth, and psychological richness of a great novel, An Unconventional Wife is a riveting biography that shines a shaft of light on a hidden but captivating life. (book flap)