Getting of Wisdom, The (Text Classics) - Softcover

Henry Handel Richardson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1922079405 ISBN 13: 9781922079404

Publisher: TEXT PUBLISHING COMPANY, 2013

Synopsis

Described by H. G. Wells as the best school story he knew, The Getting of Wisdom is the classic Australian novel of school days, a compelling and frank account of a young girl's coming of age. Laura Tweedle Rambotham, the main character, is the eldest child of a country family. At the age of 12, she is sent off to boarding school in Melbourne and her experiences shock and humiliate the unworldly Laura. The girls at the school are generally from wealthy families and from time to time Laura lets snippets of information about her family slip out - and she suffers for it.

About this title

About the Author

Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson was born into an affluent Melbourne family in 1870. Her father Walter was a doctor of medicine. When Richardson was nine he died of syphilis after being admitted to Melbourne’s Kew mental asylum. His illness and suffering had a huge impact on his family.

After his death, Richardson’s mother took her children to Maldon where she worked as the postmistress.

Richardson was sent to board at the Presbyterian Ladies College in 1883—an experience that provided material for her novel The Getting of Wisdom. At school she developed into a talented pianist and tennis player.

In 1888, she travelled to Europe with her mother and studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium where she met John George Robertson, a Scottish expert in German literature. The pair married and settled in London. She published her first novel, Maurice Guest, in 1908. She took the pen name of Henry Handel Richardson and used it for all of her books.

Richardson made her only journey back to Australia in 1912 to complete her research for the trilogy that would become The Fortunes of Richard Mahony. Her final novel The Young Cosima appeared in 1939. Henry Handel Richardson died in Sussex in 1946.

Germaine Greer is a well-known feminist and writer. Her books include The Female Eunuch, Daddy, We Hardly Knew You, The Change, The Obstacle Race and The Boy. She is professor of English and comparative studies at Warwick University, England.

Edition details

• Publisher: TEXT PUBLISHING COMPANY
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1922079405
• ISBN 13: 9781922079404
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296