The details of Charmian Clift's life have often been in danger of overwhelming an appreciation of her work, and in this meticulously researched, highly readable biography, Nadia Wheatley for the first time peels away the myths to give us the real story of Charmian's life and work. So many details of her life were taken by her husband, George Johnston, and used in his novels 'My Brother Jack' and 'Clean Straw For Nothing', that until now it has been difficult for readers to know where fiction begins and where the truth lies.
Charmian Clift was born in Kiama in 1923 and after a stint in the Army during the war became a journalist on Melbourne's Argus newspaper. There she met and fell in love with the dashing "golden boy" war correspondent George Johnston. However, as George was already married their affair caused a scandal which resulted in their both leaving the paper and moving to Sydney. There they collaborated on their first novel, 'High Valley', which won the prestigious Sydney Morning Herald prize in 1948.
This biography deftly untangles fact from fiction and gives us a portrait of an immensely talented woman and of the unique literary partnership she shared with George Johnston.
