1870–1946 · Melbourne, Victoria · also known as Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson
Henry Handel Richardson was the pen name of Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, who trained as a pianist in Leipzig and lived most of her life in England. The Getting of Wisdom (1910) satirises a Melbourne girls’ school, and her trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917–1929), based on her father’s life on the goldfields, is one of the great Australian novels.
Begin with The Getting of Wisdom.
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Henry Lawson · Banjo Paterson · Miles Franklin · Patrick White · Ruth Park · Oodgeroo Noonuccal · Tim Winton
Henry Handel Richardson was the pen name of Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, who trained as a pianist in Leipzig and lived most of her life in England. The Getting of Wisdom (1910) satirises a Melbourne girls’ school, and her trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1917–1929), based on her father’s life on the goldfields, is one of the great Australian novels.
The Getting of Wisdom is usually considered Henry Handel Richardson’s best-known work, followed by The Fortunes of Richard Mahony.
Most readers start with The Getting of Wisdom.
Both refer to the same writer.
Many of Henry Handel Richardson’s works are in the public domain; we link to free editions below.