Only Happiness Here

Book Description:

Gabrielle Carey narrates a riveting journey through the life and work of one of last century's most successful - and almost forgotten - women novelists, Elizabeth von Arnim

'When I discovered Elizabeth von Arnim, I found, for the first time, a writer who wrote about being happy.'

Elizabeth von Arnim is one of the early 20th century's most famous - and forgotten -authors. Born in Sydney in the mid 1800s, she went on to write many internationally bestselling novels, marry a Prussian Count and then an English Lord, nurture close friendships with H.G. Wells and E.M. Forster and raise five children.

Her novels were ahead of their time in their representation of women and their pursuit of happiness. Intrigued by von Arnim's extraordinary life and vibrant career, Gabrielle Carey sets off on a literary and philosophical journey to know more about this talented author.

From the Prime Minister's Literary Award winner of Moving Among Strangers, Only Happiness Here is part biography, part memoir and part reflection on human nature's obsession with finding joy.

About the Author

Gabrielle Carey is a writer and author of ten books, including Moving Among Strangers- Randolph Stow and my family (2013), which jointly won the 2014 Prime Minister's Award for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the National Biography Award, and Falling Out of Love with Ivan Southall (2018). She teaches creative non-fiction at the University of Technology Sydney. In 2020 Carey was recently shortlisted for the Hazel Rowley Biography Award for her work on Elizabeth von Arnim.

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