When Mary Beauchamp, a musical young woman from a middle class family in Sydney married a German count, she became Elizabeth von Arnim. Soon disenchanted with marriage and motherhood, she shut herself away at her country estate and began writing bestselling books about her garden and the society around her. 

She continued to write while married to her wayward second husband, Lord Russell, and had an affair with HG Wells and a young man half her age, while entertaining lavishly at her Swiss chalet.

Elizabeth also had an often spiky relationship with her cousin Katherine Mansfield. 

Although she is known as a light romantic satirist, she touches on darker themes of domestic violence and the desires of older women.

Joyce Morgan’s biography  brings von Arnim to life through extensive research into her diaries and letters. The Countess from Kirribilli reads like fairy tale, farce and psychological drama in a narrative that never loses momentum.

Life Sentences is a Two Heads Media production

Producers: David Roach and Jennifer Macey

Audio Editing: Louise Osbourne

Music: Amanda Brown

www.carolinebaum.com.au

All the books in this series are available from good bookshops and online.

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