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An Unconventional Wife: The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold
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.
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 industrialisation challenged agrarian forms, when democracy challenged aristocracy, when women began to challenge men. It was a conflict that would shape not only 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.
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.
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 industrialisation challenged agrarian forms, when democracy challenged aristocracy, when women began to challenge men. It was a conflict that would shape not only 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.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2019
18 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Mary Hoban
4 books2 followersMary Hoban is a Melbourne-based writer and historian. Her first book was a history of Melbourne's celebrated Queen Victoria Market. She has also authored, co-authored, and edited various textbooks, papers, and journal articles on Australian and Asian history and cultural studies. For some years she was employed in the philatelic section of Australia Post as a writer, editor, and researcher for the nation's postage stamps, where she wrote and edited books on subjects ranging from ChristmasIsland to the Antarctic, from royalty to rugby. She holds a graduate diploma in biography and life writing from Monash University and an MA in public history from the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2012 she was awarded the inaugural Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship to write the biography of Julia Sorell Arnold.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 15, 2021
Our book club discussion focussed, unsurprisingly, on the combined oppressions of gender, religion and class for women in England in the nineteenth century, extending to expressions of relief that we live now in a society that allows women economic and social independence, freedom to divorce and the decline of religious discrimination.
Poor Julia Sorell! She suffered from their lack, married to a man who adopted Roman Catholicism at a time when that precluded him from most appointments a man of his education and class might expect in England and who insisted that his wife obey him in all things. But she refused to convert to please him and this led to years of discord and hardship.
This is one of those occasions when I can't add much to the publisher's summary of the book and I'm just going to paste it in below, minus the hyperbolic praise:
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 [Mrs Humphrey Ward], 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.
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 industrialisation challenged agrarian forms, when democracy challenged aristocracy, when women began to challenge men. It was a conflict that would shape not only their own lives and that of their children, but also touch the lives of all those who came into contact with them.
Read
April 9, 2020In An Unconventional Wife, Mary Hoban has given us an inconvenient heroine: a woman hobbled by her times, champing at the bit, going nowhere but telling us everything. Pieced together through impeccable research and told with all the urgency and intrigue of a soap opera, the story of Julia Sorell demands recognition of — and respect for — a woman who would otherwise be lost to history. Utterly charming.
Clare Wright
An exceptional exercise in factual delving and a feat of imaginative sympathy.
Gideon Haigh
A magisterial work of biography, utterly assured in research and style. This compelling and moving book reanimates the lost life of Julia Sorell Arnold, a spirited, independent woman in an age when women were expected to be quiet. With deep insight and empathy Hoban brings to life Julia and Tom’s troublesome marriage. Their passionate but fractious relationship speaks directly to the irascible relations between women and men in our own divisive times. This book is a remarkable achievement by an expert and gifted biographer.
Rod Jones
Hoban has uncovered the story of a woman, admired by many friends and family, who refused to bow to the customs of the day, spoke her mind when others would have kept quiet and stayed true to her faith ... a remarkable life that needed to be told.
Barry Reynolds, Herald Sun
An Unconventional Wife is superbly written, and skilfully draws on a number of diverse sources, compensating for a lamented lack – an intimate diary kept by Julia herself. Mary Hoban has got to the kernel of this story, since she has correctly conceived it as an exercise in the recuperation of women’s history.
Jim Davidson, Australian Book Review
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 ... An Unconventional Wife performs a worthy act of recovery in lucid prose, revealing an intelligent woman caught up in the struggles and limitations of her time.
David Mason, Weekend Australian
Mary Hoban has bypassed poets and thinkers, churchmen and colonial administrators to create a spirited biography of the ‘‘unknown woman’’, as she calls Julia Sorell Arnold.
Brenda Niall, Sydney Morning Herald
Hoban portrays her as an independently-minded woman at a time when women were expected to conform to their husband’s views.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
An illuminating portrait of a Victorian wife and mother who was rescued from silence ... A sparkling biography and cultural history.
Kirkus Review
This is a wonderful story, told with great clarity. There is compassion too, and you can only imagine that the author is taking great pains to suppress her own anger at the way Victorian society was expected to behave, whether in distant Tasmania or academic Oxford or backwater Dublin. The reader is caught between sympathy for Julia and admiration for her insistence on her dignity.
Frank O’Shea, Tinteán
This is an absorbing book, one I could not put down ... She writes well and fluently, and her prose is a pleasure to read.
Alison Alexander, Tasmanian Historical Research Association’s Papers and Proceedings
Julia’s story is expertly told by Hoban … Through this biography, Hoban challenges the conventional narrative of Julia’s life that positions her as the difficult wife of the sophisticated and scholarly Tom Arnold. She has provided readers with another side to the story, where Julia’s own thoughts and feelings become the focus, and thus reveal a far more complicated picture of their marriage and herself than biographies of Arnold deliver … a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Expertly told … well-researched … Hoban’s writing is engaging. She expertly draws the reader in to Julia’s story and, rather than a dry catalogue of facts, the reader is presented with a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Clare Wright
An exceptional exercise in factual delving and a feat of imaginative sympathy.
Gideon Haigh
A magisterial work of biography, utterly assured in research and style. This compelling and moving book reanimates the lost life of Julia Sorell Arnold, a spirited, independent woman in an age when women were expected to be quiet. With deep insight and empathy Hoban brings to life Julia and Tom’s troublesome marriage. Their passionate but fractious relationship speaks directly to the irascible relations between women and men in our own divisive times. This book is a remarkable achievement by an expert and gifted biographer.
Rod Jones
Hoban has uncovered the story of a woman, admired by many friends and family, who refused to bow to the customs of the day, spoke her mind when others would have kept quiet and stayed true to her faith ... a remarkable life that needed to be told.
Barry Reynolds, Herald Sun
An Unconventional Wife is superbly written, and skilfully draws on a number of diverse sources, compensating for a lamented lack – an intimate diary kept by Julia herself. Mary Hoban has got to the kernel of this story, since she has correctly conceived it as an exercise in the recuperation of women’s history.
Jim Davidson, Australian Book Review
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 ... An Unconventional Wife performs a worthy act of recovery in lucid prose, revealing an intelligent woman caught up in the struggles and limitations of her time.
David Mason, Weekend Australian
Mary Hoban has bypassed poets and thinkers, churchmen and colonial administrators to create a spirited biography of the ‘‘unknown woman’’, as she calls Julia Sorell Arnold.
Brenda Niall, Sydney Morning Herald
Hoban portrays her as an independently-minded woman at a time when women were expected to conform to their husband’s views.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
An illuminating portrait of a Victorian wife and mother who was rescued from silence ... A sparkling biography and cultural history.
Kirkus Review
This is a wonderful story, told with great clarity. There is compassion too, and you can only imagine that the author is taking great pains to suppress her own anger at the way Victorian society was expected to behave, whether in distant Tasmania or academic Oxford or backwater Dublin. The reader is caught between sympathy for Julia and admiration for her insistence on her dignity.
Frank O’Shea, Tinteán
This is an absorbing book, one I could not put down ... She writes well and fluently, and her prose is a pleasure to read.
Alison Alexander, Tasmanian Historical Research Association’s Papers and Proceedings
Julia’s story is expertly told by Hoban … Through this biography, Hoban challenges the conventional narrative of Julia’s life that positions her as the difficult wife of the sophisticated and scholarly Tom Arnold. She has provided readers with another side to the story, where Julia’s own thoughts and feelings become the focus, and thus reveal a far more complicated picture of their marriage and herself than biographies of Arnold deliver … a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Expertly told … well-researched … Hoban’s writing is engaging. She expertly draws the reader in to Julia’s story and, rather than a dry catalogue of facts, the reader is presented with a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
April 9, 2019
I chose this book because it provided another mosiac piece of the Tasmanian history I enjoy and it covered the life of an, as usual for the times, invisible woman. Julia Sorell overcame the religiously sanctioned domestic abuse of her time to rear a fine family despite a controlling, abusive husband. Her husband Tom Arnold spent a short time in Tasmania marrying Julia in 1850. They returned to his family home and place of birth in England where his religious zealotry grew leading to dire consequences for Julia and their children. Mary Hoban's biography is welcome as an antidote to widely held assumptions/beliefs about Julia Arnold. Explanations of the legal status of women at the time and the history of moves by women to educate women add welcome background information. When living in Oxford Julia and her daughters were part of the latter movement.
The hardback book I now own is also handsomely produced.
Congratulations and thank you to the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship for enabling Mary Hoban's work.
The hardback book I now own is also handsomely produced.
Congratulations and thank you to the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship for enabling Mary Hoban's work.
June 26, 2019
Fascinating
This story of a marriage in a Victoria times ranges across countries and controversies. The early times in Tasmania, the challenges of her own parent’s unconventional lives, were key influences on Julia Sorell, who then met and married Tom Arnold, of the famous Arnold family. Indeed many people from history play roles in this story- Cardinal Newman, Louis Carroll and many others. I am so so grateful to the author for having told this story.
This story of a marriage in a Victoria times ranges across countries and controversies. The early times in Tasmania, the challenges of her own parent’s unconventional lives, were key influences on Julia Sorell, who then met and married Tom Arnold, of the famous Arnold family. Indeed many people from history play roles in this story- Cardinal Newman, Louis Carroll and many others. I am so so grateful to the author for having told this story.
Read
May 4, 2021In An Unconventional Wife, Mary Hoban has given us an inconvenient heroine: a woman hobbled by her times, champing at the bit, going nowhere but telling us everything. Pieced together through impeccable research and told with all the urgency and intrigue of a soap opera, the story of Julia Sorell demands recognition of — and respect for — a woman who would otherwise be lost to history. Utterly charming.
Clare Wright
An exceptional exercise in factual delving and a feat of imaginative sympathy.
Gideon Haigh
A magisterial work of biography, utterly assured in research and style. This compelling and moving book reanimates the lost life of Julia Sorell Arnold, a spirited, independent woman in an age when women were expected to be quiet. With deep insight and empathy Hoban brings to life Julia and Tom’s troublesome marriage. Their passionate but fractious relationship speaks directly to the irascible relations between women and men in our own divisive times. This book is a remarkable achievement by an expert and gifted biographer.
Rod Jones
Hoban has uncovered the story of a woman, admired by many friends and family, who refused to bow to the customs of the day, spoke her mind when others would have kept quiet and stayed true to her faith ... a remarkable life that needed to be told.
Barry Reynolds, Herald Sun
An Unconventional Wife is superbly written, and skilfully draws on a number of diverse sources, compensating for a lamented lack – an intimate diary kept by Julia herself. Mary Hoban has got to the kernel of this story, since she has correctly conceived it as an exercise in the recuperation of women’s history.
Jim Davidson, Australian Book Review
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 ... An Unconventional Wife performs a worthy act of recovery in lucid prose, revealing an intelligent woman caught up in the struggles and limitations of her time.
David Mason, Weekend Australian
Mary Hoban has bypassed poets and thinkers, churchmen and colonial administrators to create a spirited biography of the ‘‘unknown woman’’, as she calls Julia Sorell Arnold.
Brenda Niall, Sydney Morning Herald
Hoban portrays her as an independently-minded woman at a time when women were expected to conform to their husband’s views.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
An illuminating portrait of a Victorian wife and mother who was rescued from silence ... A sparkling biography and cultural history.
Kirkus Review
This is a wonderful story, told with great clarity. There is compassion too, and you can only imagine that the author is taking great pains to suppress her own anger at the way Victorian society was expected to behave, whether in distant Tasmania or academic Oxford or backwater Dublin. The reader is caught between sympathy for Julia and admiration for her insistence on her dignity.
Frank O’Shea, Tinteán
This is an absorbing book, one I could not put down ... She writes well and fluently, and her prose is a pleasure to read.
Alison Alexander, Tasmanian Historical Research Association’s Papers and Proceedings
Julia’s story is expertly told by Hoban … Through this biography, Hoban challenges the conventional narrative of Julia’s life that positions her as the difficult wife of the sophisticated and scholarly Tom Arnold. She has provided readers with another side to the story, where Julia’s own thoughts and feelings become the focus, and thus reveal a far more complicated picture of their marriage and herself than biographies of Arnold deliver … a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Expertly told … well-researched … Hoban’s writing is engaging. She expertly draws the reader in to Julia’s story and, rather than a dry catalogue of facts, the reader is presented with a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Clare Wright
An exceptional exercise in factual delving and a feat of imaginative sympathy.
Gideon Haigh
A magisterial work of biography, utterly assured in research and style. This compelling and moving book reanimates the lost life of Julia Sorell Arnold, a spirited, independent woman in an age when women were expected to be quiet. With deep insight and empathy Hoban brings to life Julia and Tom’s troublesome marriage. Their passionate but fractious relationship speaks directly to the irascible relations between women and men in our own divisive times. This book is a remarkable achievement by an expert and gifted biographer.
Rod Jones
Hoban has uncovered the story of a woman, admired by many friends and family, who refused to bow to the customs of the day, spoke her mind when others would have kept quiet and stayed true to her faith ... a remarkable life that needed to be told.
Barry Reynolds, Herald Sun
An Unconventional Wife is superbly written, and skilfully draws on a number of diverse sources, compensating for a lamented lack – an intimate diary kept by Julia herself. Mary Hoban has got to the kernel of this story, since she has correctly conceived it as an exercise in the recuperation of women’s history.
Jim Davidson, Australian Book Review
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 ... An Unconventional Wife performs a worthy act of recovery in lucid prose, revealing an intelligent woman caught up in the struggles and limitations of her time.
David Mason, Weekend Australian
Mary Hoban has bypassed poets and thinkers, churchmen and colonial administrators to create a spirited biography of the ‘‘unknown woman’’, as she calls Julia Sorell Arnold.
Brenda Niall, Sydney Morning Herald
Hoban portrays her as an independently-minded woman at a time when women were expected to conform to their husband’s views.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
An illuminating portrait of a Victorian wife and mother who was rescued from silence ... A sparkling biography and cultural history.
Kirkus Review
This is a wonderful story, told with great clarity. There is compassion too, and you can only imagine that the author is taking great pains to suppress her own anger at the way Victorian society was expected to behave, whether in distant Tasmania or academic Oxford or backwater Dublin. The reader is caught between sympathy for Julia and admiration for her insistence on her dignity.
Frank O’Shea, Tinteán
This is an absorbing book, one I could not put down ... She writes well and fluently, and her prose is a pleasure to read.
Alison Alexander, Tasmanian Historical Research Association’s Papers and Proceedings
Julia’s story is expertly told by Hoban … Through this biography, Hoban challenges the conventional narrative of Julia’s life that positions her as the difficult wife of the sophisticated and scholarly Tom Arnold. She has provided readers with another side to the story, where Julia’s own thoughts and feelings become the focus, and thus reveal a far more complicated picture of their marriage and herself than biographies of Arnold deliver … a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
Expertly told … well-researched … Hoban’s writing is engaging. She expertly draws the reader in to Julia’s story and, rather than a dry catalogue of facts, the reader is presented with a page-turning account of an incredible woman.
Hannah Viney, Eras Journal, Monash University
February 12, 2024
Fantastic. Well written and gripping true story that uncovers the uncomfortable marriage between Julia Sorrel and Tom Arnold.
September 17, 2019
A balanced view about a woman who lived outside of the social expectations of her era. She had very distinguished descendants. It was an interesting read about a family I knew nothing about. Some of the chapters were a tad dry, but the author made her points. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read.
September 16, 2019
I'm not generally a fan of biographies, but An Unconventional Wife: The Life of Julia Sorell Arnold really hooked me! Julia's story is fascinating and Mary Hoban has made her come vividly to life through the use of Julia's and her husband Tom's letters. I had no idea that life was so restricted in the 1800s for women - horrifying and eye-opening for me!
August 29, 2019
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. Beautifully written. Tough to read at times, but well worth it.
November 18, 2025
Finished: 22.11.2019
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Trivia: WINNER QLD Non-Fiction Book Award 2019
Trivia: WINNER QLD History Book Award 2019
Conclusion:
This is a magnificent biography! Mary Hoban just swept me away to Tasmania and...then on to Brussels, England and Ireland. I was so engrossed in the story I had no time to take notes! Julia felt like a very modern woman...in a Victorian world: She was fiercely independent. Tom radiates toxic masculinity in every chapter. As in many marriages...partners hope to change each other's behavior. We read in this book the collision course that Tom and Julia were destined to follow. Tom's wife must in all things submit to him. Julia cannot give up her own soul. Their relationship becomes a battle to the death. Julia refused to adhere to the ideal of a Victorian woman. She refused to be silent.
#Excellent biography!
Last Thoughts: (feedback to @bronasbooks)
I rarely get 'swept' away with a biography but my heart just went out to Julia Sorell Arnold! Mary Hoban writes with a flair that touches on a novel.... it is a well-crafted, beautifully rendered meditation on abandonment (Julia - mother) marriage (opposites attract) religion (Catholic and Protestant....sharing the same bed!) grief, (loss beloved father; children [stillborn, sickness]) the 'can't live with you...but can't live without you'....type relationship between Julia and Arnold. It seem distance does make the heart grow fonder...and not to mention 9 children!
I could go on and on....but I hope this book is on your TBR.
Genre: biography
Rating: A
Trivia: WINNER QLD Non-Fiction Book Award 2019
Trivia: WINNER QLD History Book Award 2019
Conclusion:
This is a magnificent biography! Mary Hoban just swept me away to Tasmania and...then on to Brussels, England and Ireland. I was so engrossed in the story I had no time to take notes! Julia felt like a very modern woman...in a Victorian world: She was fiercely independent. Tom radiates toxic masculinity in every chapter. As in many marriages...partners hope to change each other's behavior. We read in this book the collision course that Tom and Julia were destined to follow. Tom's wife must in all things submit to him. Julia cannot give up her own soul. Their relationship becomes a battle to the death. Julia refused to adhere to the ideal of a Victorian woman. She refused to be silent.
#Excellent biography!
Last Thoughts: (feedback to @bronasbooks)
I rarely get 'swept' away with a biography but my heart just went out to Julia Sorell Arnold! Mary Hoban writes with a flair that touches on a novel.... it is a well-crafted, beautifully rendered meditation on abandonment (Julia - mother) marriage (opposites attract) religion (Catholic and Protestant....sharing the same bed!) grief, (loss beloved father; children [stillborn, sickness]) the 'can't live with you...but can't live without you'....type relationship between Julia and Arnold. It seem distance does make the heart grow fonder...and not to mention 9 children!
I could go on and on....but I hope this book is on your TBR.
Read
June 28, 2021My thinking about the genre of biography has, before now, been about the ethics of biographers and what is involved in creating a biography. I was quite interested in this for a while – after reading Janet Malcolm’s excellent book ‘The Silent Woman’. That book explored the complexities of trying to uncover and write about the life of a person, the role of biographer as burglar or vampire – or both.
Mary Hoban, the writer of this biography, came along to my bookclub after we’d read her book. It was great listening to her talking about the writing process and certainly added to what I’d read. I’d not thought much about how the genre of biography might have changed over time etc. Or about the approach that a writer might take. Mary said that she didn’t want to write a biography that was about “a person with achievements” – which is what most biography is about. In the introduction to the book, we are presented with an adult Julia Sorell who is so enraged that her husband is converting to Catholicism that she stood outside the church in Hobart and chucked a stone through the window of the church. She’d read about this incident in the memoir of scientist Sir Julian Huxley (grandson of Julia). Mary said that she had immediately become interested in this feisty woman, born in Hobart in 1826. She said: “I had to work out how to write about an unknown woman who had “achieved nothing”.”
What becomes the spine of the book is the marriage between Julia Sorell and Tom Arnold, son of Dr Arnold who founded the Rugby School in England. When we meet Tom, he is a somewhat hapless young guy trying to make a living in the colonies. Julia is well-ensconsed in local Hobart society, running her father’s home after her mother took off with an army officer for India. Julia comes across in this early part of the bio as spirited and charming with a string of potentially suitable husbands as part of what was on offer in colonial Hobart. Instead, she falls for Tom, who could best be described as a dreamer, at worst, someone who was completely impractical who nonetheless expected Julia to fall in line completely with his views. They are presented as being very much in love.
It’s not giving away much of the plot to say that Tom wrestles with religion for his entire life. Despite his deceased father’s clear preference for the Anglican religion, Tom is swayed by Catholicism and by Dr Arnold’s nemesis, John Newman. As one website says “The reputation of Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, has to some extent been established largely by the testimony of his most influential critic — John Henry Newman. He had first known Arnold as one of the "noetics" at Oriel College whom he had been tempted to follow into liberalism. In the Apologia, Newman said repeatedly that the great enemy he was fighting was liberalism, and he also made clear that Arnold was a prime examplar of that detested ideology. In one famous incident he asked rhetorically whether Arnold could even be considered a Christian.”
Julia has an entrenched dislike of Catholicism due to some childhood experiences. These differences become a running sore through the book because at that time, this stuff really mattered. The couple went to England after a few years in Hobart – where few people could obtain decent employment if they were Catholic. And this mattered very much to Tom and Julia because they had very little money and kept having kids. Despite this, Tom converted to Catholicism, creating a heap of problems for the family. The themes of poverty, patriarchy and choice of religion run through the whole biography.
I found Tom intensely enraging. I think that rage propelled my reading. And Julia was adaptable and clever; it’s worth reading about her. I also thought about books set in a similar period that I’ve read – there is Kate Grenville’s fiction book about Elizabeth Macarthur which I enjoyed very much. Both books focus on the impact of the patriarchy on the lives of women – how shackled women were because of money and because their children usually kept them tied to the father, however unpleasant or unreasonable he was.
Then there was the bio of Caroline Chisolm that I read a while ago. I found that book interesting in that the writer introduced each section with a fictional scene. Not saying I loved this idea though. Mary quoted a perspective from historian Greg Denning – it went something like it is the job of the biographer to wade through the ‘noise’ made by the voices (sources) at the writer’s side, and find, in the quiet, a pathway through that attempts to tell a kind of truth. She referenced Hilary Mantell who said of the Cromwell books “…nothing in them is made up…”. Mary was lucky that a lot of the letters that Julia and Tom, and their children wrote, are still in existence so there are a lot of voices and perspectives to wade through.
I wish the book had said a little more about why the Catholicism/Anglican split was such a big deal – and why Tom felt the need to cause so much trouble for his family. I am not well-versed in these matters and struggled to make sense of it. One reviewer said: “When Julia first met Tom, he had drifted out of Anglicanism to become an agnostic. But like a number of highly strung intellectuals of the day, he was enticed by Catholicism: he even wrote to his father’s old antagonist, Cardinal Newman, for guidance. Julia was aghast.” (https://issuu.com/australianbookrevie...) I don’t know why these “highly strung intellectuals’ were so enticed by Catholicism – and would have liked to know more.
Finally, the cover. The clever designer used an image of Julia Sorell, set off to the side so that her face only two-thirds on the cover. The remainder is inside the frontispiece – so one of Julia’s lovely eyes follows the reader through the journey of her life. It’s clever.
Mary Hoban, the writer of this biography, came along to my bookclub after we’d read her book. It was great listening to her talking about the writing process and certainly added to what I’d read. I’d not thought much about how the genre of biography might have changed over time etc. Or about the approach that a writer might take. Mary said that she didn’t want to write a biography that was about “a person with achievements” – which is what most biography is about. In the introduction to the book, we are presented with an adult Julia Sorell who is so enraged that her husband is converting to Catholicism that she stood outside the church in Hobart and chucked a stone through the window of the church. She’d read about this incident in the memoir of scientist Sir Julian Huxley (grandson of Julia). Mary said that she had immediately become interested in this feisty woman, born in Hobart in 1826. She said: “I had to work out how to write about an unknown woman who had “achieved nothing”.”
What becomes the spine of the book is the marriage between Julia Sorell and Tom Arnold, son of Dr Arnold who founded the Rugby School in England. When we meet Tom, he is a somewhat hapless young guy trying to make a living in the colonies. Julia is well-ensconsed in local Hobart society, running her father’s home after her mother took off with an army officer for India. Julia comes across in this early part of the bio as spirited and charming with a string of potentially suitable husbands as part of what was on offer in colonial Hobart. Instead, she falls for Tom, who could best be described as a dreamer, at worst, someone who was completely impractical who nonetheless expected Julia to fall in line completely with his views. They are presented as being very much in love.
It’s not giving away much of the plot to say that Tom wrestles with religion for his entire life. Despite his deceased father’s clear preference for the Anglican religion, Tom is swayed by Catholicism and by Dr Arnold’s nemesis, John Newman. As one website says “The reputation of Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, has to some extent been established largely by the testimony of his most influential critic — John Henry Newman. He had first known Arnold as one of the "noetics" at Oriel College whom he had been tempted to follow into liberalism. In the Apologia, Newman said repeatedly that the great enemy he was fighting was liberalism, and he also made clear that Arnold was a prime examplar of that detested ideology. In one famous incident he asked rhetorically whether Arnold could even be considered a Christian.”
Julia has an entrenched dislike of Catholicism due to some childhood experiences. These differences become a running sore through the book because at that time, this stuff really mattered. The couple went to England after a few years in Hobart – where few people could obtain decent employment if they were Catholic. And this mattered very much to Tom and Julia because they had very little money and kept having kids. Despite this, Tom converted to Catholicism, creating a heap of problems for the family. The themes of poverty, patriarchy and choice of religion run through the whole biography.
I found Tom intensely enraging. I think that rage propelled my reading. And Julia was adaptable and clever; it’s worth reading about her. I also thought about books set in a similar period that I’ve read – there is Kate Grenville’s fiction book about Elizabeth Macarthur which I enjoyed very much. Both books focus on the impact of the patriarchy on the lives of women – how shackled women were because of money and because their children usually kept them tied to the father, however unpleasant or unreasonable he was.
Then there was the bio of Caroline Chisolm that I read a while ago. I found that book interesting in that the writer introduced each section with a fictional scene. Not saying I loved this idea though. Mary quoted a perspective from historian Greg Denning – it went something like it is the job of the biographer to wade through the ‘noise’ made by the voices (sources) at the writer’s side, and find, in the quiet, a pathway through that attempts to tell a kind of truth. She referenced Hilary Mantell who said of the Cromwell books “…nothing in them is made up…”. Mary was lucky that a lot of the letters that Julia and Tom, and their children wrote, are still in existence so there are a lot of voices and perspectives to wade through.
I wish the book had said a little more about why the Catholicism/Anglican split was such a big deal – and why Tom felt the need to cause so much trouble for his family. I am not well-versed in these matters and struggled to make sense of it. One reviewer said: “When Julia first met Tom, he had drifted out of Anglicanism to become an agnostic. But like a number of highly strung intellectuals of the day, he was enticed by Catholicism: he even wrote to his father’s old antagonist, Cardinal Newman, for guidance. Julia was aghast.” (https://issuu.com/australianbookrevie...) I don’t know why these “highly strung intellectuals’ were so enticed by Catholicism – and would have liked to know more.
Finally, the cover. The clever designer used an image of Julia Sorell, set off to the side so that her face only two-thirds on the cover. The remainder is inside the frontispiece – so one of Julia’s lovely eyes follows the reader through the journey of her life. It’s clever.
May 1, 2020
Julia Sorrell was the belle of Tasmania. When she meets the charming but reserved Tom Arnold, she falls head over heels in love and ignores the advice of others that it would be an ill-suited match. The love match soon dissolves into disagreements and discord that last for the rest of their married lives.
A somber warning about marrying in haste.
I found it fascinating to read an authentic life account from the Victorian era. I'd never heard of many of the persons presented in this book. It presents the first few chapters with hints of a novel, presumably to draw the reader in and make Julia more relatable, but I found it odd since this touch vanishes quickly.
This was a tough read at times. The marriage of Julia Sorrell and Tom Arnold was not harmonious, and they both were unwilling to compromise in their marriage. They both ignored the advice of those older who advised against it. They had nine children together, so they did love each other.
That love did not conquer all.
The book seemed as well researched as it could be. Some inferences made by the author seemed a stretch.
For readers who enjoy biographies may enjoy this. I recieved a free copy theough LibraryThing's Early Review program. All opinionis expressed are my own.
A somber warning about marrying in haste.
I found it fascinating to read an authentic life account from the Victorian era. I'd never heard of many of the persons presented in this book. It presents the first few chapters with hints of a novel, presumably to draw the reader in and make Julia more relatable, but I found it odd since this touch vanishes quickly.
This was a tough read at times. The marriage of Julia Sorrell and Tom Arnold was not harmonious, and they both were unwilling to compromise in their marriage. They both ignored the advice of those older who advised against it. They had nine children together, so they did love each other.
That love did not conquer all.
The book seemed as well researched as it could be. Some inferences made by the author seemed a stretch.
For readers who enjoy biographies may enjoy this. I recieved a free copy theough LibraryThing's Early Review program. All opinionis expressed are my own.
October 24, 2025
I should warn you, if you’ve been a victim of narcissistic abuse, by a partner and/or growing up with a parent like that, then this will likely be a triggering read. The story of Julia and Tom’s marriage is one as old as time, that unfortunately keeps being repeated over and over again. A strong woman who deserves so much better marries an ass who doesn’t give two shits about her.
Hoban’s writing keeps things relatively neutral, though, keeping to what was written about in correspondence and recorded facts, with sprinkles of light speculation but nothing declarative. It’s a wonderfully written and compelling read, just not one I want to read again. Poor Julia deserved better. I’m glad Hoban gave her the spotlight here, as well as her children, especially Polly.
February 25, 2020
What a goldmine of a story! Author Mary Hoban is an exceptional writer. She needs to put out more books. In An Unconventional Wife, Hoban tells us about Julia Sorell, an independent woman, who had her own thoughts about things, and got married to a man named Tom Arnold. He was the complete opposite of her. Tom had a different understanding of what marriage and religion meant than she did (this took place during the Victorian Age), which caused plenty of friction between the two. They had great love for each other, but their opposing views caused constant conflict. Frankly, I don't know how she stayed married to him. There was always stress, and it affected their children too. But somehow she rose above it all. I am glad that Hoban brought Julia out of the shadows. Absolutely wonderful storytelling.
March 4, 2020
A friend and very keen reader sent me the hard copy of this book from America. The postage cost many US $$$ .... of course I had to read it and was hooked from the first page !!!
An amazingly written biography of a very strong woman who I could identify with had I lived in her century . She showed such strength of character and a deep sense of loyalty to her family and husband . A modern woman would’ve walked away but she couldn’t - she would’ve lost everything !!
I think every woman should read this book and hear her story .
An amazingly written biography of a very strong woman who I could identify with had I lived in her century . She showed such strength of character and a deep sense of loyalty to her family and husband . A modern woman would’ve walked away but she couldn’t - she would’ve lost everything !!
I think every woman should read this book and hear her story .
January 12, 2021
Thank you for this book Mary Hoban!
A riveting story, beautifully written. Impeccable research, fascinating attention to detail. A flowing read. This book should be a compulsory read for all of us.
I would love to see Hoban write a biography of a widely known female historical character as I believe her style and meticulous research through a number of surrounding characters would add a rich new layer to our perception of prominent females we think we know all about.
Thanks again, it was a privilege to read this book!
A riveting story, beautifully written. Impeccable research, fascinating attention to detail. A flowing read. This book should be a compulsory read for all of us.
I would love to see Hoban write a biography of a widely known female historical character as I believe her style and meticulous research through a number of surrounding characters would add a rich new layer to our perception of prominent females we think we know all about.
Thanks again, it was a privilege to read this book!
March 22, 2020
I was very much intrigued to read about a time and place (Tasmania, etc.) that I knew not much about. This book started out okay, but after the marriage of the main characters I got VERY frustrated reading this book. It made me realize how much easier our lives are nowadays. I surely would not have wanted to be a wife of such a "godly", self-righteous man at any time in history. I could only feel pity for Mrs. Arnold and how she was stuck in this miserable situation.
February 26, 2022
Life of Julia Sorel Arnold born in Hobart in 1826. Moved to England about 1840. Very interesting insight into life, especially of women at the time. Some were advocating for women's freesom from being dictated to by their husbands and having their own identity (and income). The discrimination against catholics in Britain and Australia is also highlighted
August 11, 2021
A fascinating biography! Julia Sorell Arnold, "who refused to adhere to the Victoria ideal of a silent woman", "who grappled with the word 'independence' and who was resolute that her daughters should understand it."
July 13, 2019
What a terrible position women were in in those times. Found this book too frustrating!
October 12, 2019
An interesting reflection on life in that period. Particular for women and how hamstrung they were by the partiachal system of the day.
March 28, 2020
an interesting approach to biography, especially for a Victorian era woman. enjoyed it.
August 16, 2021
A very accessible read of the life of a woman of the 19th century. Setting the record straight!
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