image of person or book cover 8355006153964631782.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 An Unconventional Wife : The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Julia Sorell was a colonial belle from Tasmania, vivacious and warm-hearted. Her 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 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.

'What began as a marriage born of desire soon turned into a relationship riven by discord. Tom’s sudden decision to become a Catholic and Julia’s refusal to convert with him plunged their lives into a crisis wherein their great love for each other would be pitted against their profoundly different understandings of marriage and religion. It was a conflict that would play out over three decades in a time when science challenged religion, when democracy challenged aristocracy, when women began to challenge men. It was a conflict that would not only shape their own lives and that of their children, but also touch the lives of all those who came into contact with them.

'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.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Brunswick, Brunswick - Coburg area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Scribe , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 8355006153964631782.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 288p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published April 2019.

      ISBN: 9781925713442, 9781925693539
    • Brunswick, Brunswick - Coburg area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Scribe , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 5583597984556445927.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 320p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 4th May 2021
      ISBN: 9781922310767

Works about this Work

Karen Fox Review of Mary Hoban, An Unconventional Wife: The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Karen Fox , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 6 2022; (p. 207-211)

— Review of An Unconventional Wife : The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Mary Hoban , 2019 single work biography
'Women’s biography is a lively genre in Australia today. Among others published in the last decade, there have appeared biographical works about significant women in colonial history (Elizabeth Macarthur, Caroline Chisholm, Jane Franklin), visual artists (Olive Cotton, Nora Heysen), criminal women (Kate Leigh, Dulcie Markham), literary figures (Aileen Palmer, Judith Wright), and feminists (Vida Goldstein, Germaine Greer, Eilean Giblin).' 

 (Introduction)

Lively Rebel with a Cause David Mason , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4 May 2019; (p. 18)

— Review of An Unconventional Wife : The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Mary Hoban , 2019 single work biography

'Whose stories get to be told? An Unconventional Wife, Mary Hoban’s elegant biography of Julia Sorrell Arnold, who was born in Tasmania in 1826 and died in England 61 years later, challenges traditional notions of biography, examining a woman other writers might have ignored.' (Introduction)

'A Revolutionary Wife' : Colonial Belle Meets Principled Weathercock Jim Davidson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 411 2019; (p. 40-41)

'The name of Julia Sorell – the granddaughter of an early governor – never quite died in Tasmania. A faint memory survived of a high-spirited young woman who was the belle of Hobart, a woman who broke hearts and engagements, including one with the current governor’s son. (It was also rumoured – with political intent – that she seduced his father, Sir John Eardley-Wilmot.) An element of scandal arose all the more readily because her own mother had deserted her father for a military man, and had run off with him when he returned to his regiment in India.'  (Introduction)

Lively Rebel with a Cause David Mason , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4 May 2019; (p. 18)

— Review of An Unconventional Wife : The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Mary Hoban , 2019 single work biography

'Whose stories get to be told? An Unconventional Wife, Mary Hoban’s elegant biography of Julia Sorrell Arnold, who was born in Tasmania in 1826 and died in England 61 years later, challenges traditional notions of biography, examining a woman other writers might have ignored.' (Introduction)

Karen Fox Review of Mary Hoban, An Unconventional Wife: The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Karen Fox , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 6 2022; (p. 207-211)

— Review of An Unconventional Wife : The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold Mary Hoban , 2019 single work biography
'Women’s biography is a lively genre in Australia today. Among others published in the last decade, there have appeared biographical works about significant women in colonial history (Elizabeth Macarthur, Caroline Chisholm, Jane Franklin), visual artists (Olive Cotton, Nora Heysen), criminal women (Kate Leigh, Dulcie Markham), literary figures (Aileen Palmer, Judith Wright), and feminists (Vida Goldstein, Germaine Greer, Eilean Giblin).' 

 (Introduction)

'A Revolutionary Wife' : Colonial Belle Meets Principled Weathercock Jim Davidson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 411 2019; (p. 40-41)

'The name of Julia Sorell – the granddaughter of an early governor – never quite died in Tasmania. A faint memory survived of a high-spirited young woman who was the belle of Hobart, a woman who broke hearts and engagements, including one with the current governor’s son. (It was also rumoured – with political intent – that she seduced his father, Sir John Eardley-Wilmot.) An element of scandal arose all the more readily because her own mother had deserted her father for a military man, and had run off with him when he returned to his regiment in India.'  (Introduction)

Last amended 15 Jan 2021 11:44:49
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