<p>Australia Felix is a novel by Henry Handel Richardson, the pseudonym used by Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, (3 January 1870 &ndash; 20 March 1946) who was an Australian author. She took the name 'Henry Handel' because at that time, many people did not take women&#39;s writing seriously, so she used a male name.</p><p>Australia Felix is without question Henry Handel Richardson&#39;s most important work, and Richard Mahony, a complex portrayal of Richardson&#39;s own father, is the first substantial character in Australian fiction. Richardson&#39;s brilliant analysis of human inadequacy, of the gulf between the ideal and achievement, and of the complexities of circumstance, environment and human fraility, make her one of Australia&#39;s most distinguished novelists&hellip;(wikipedia.org)</p>