She was born in the NSW coastal town of Kiama. After their 1947 marriage, and their collaboration "High Valley" (1949) won them recognition as writers, Australian journalists George Johnston and Charmian Clift left Australia with their young family, working in London before relocating to the Greek Islands to try living by the pen. George Johnston returned to Australia to received the accolades of his Miles Franklin Winner "My Brother Jack." Charmian moved back to Sydney with their children in 1964, after which her novels "Mermaid Singing", "Peel Me a Lotus," "Honour's Mimic" became successes. She was also well known for her essays in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers, with volumes including "Images in Aspic" and "The World of Charmian Clift." In the meantime their marriage was disintegrating under the pressures of their drinking habits and the problems their children had settling into life in Sydney. In July 1969 she committed suicide on the eve of the publication of Johnston's "Clean Straw For Nothing."
She was born in the NSW coastal town of Kiama. After their 1947 marriage, and their collaboration "High Valley" (1949) won them recognition as writers, Australian journalists George Johnston and Charmian Clift left Australia with their young family, working in London before relocating to the Greek Islands to try living by the pen. George Johnston returned to Australia to received the accolades of his Miles Franklin Winner "My Brother Jack." Charmian moved back to Sydney with their children in 1964, after which her novels "Mermaid Singing", "Peel Me a Lotus," "Honour's Mimic" became successes. She was also well known for her essays in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers, with volumes including "Images in Aspic" and "The World of Charmian Clift." In the meantime their marriage was disintegrating under the pressures of their drinking habits and the problems their children had settling into life in Sydney. In July 1969 she committed suicide on the eve of the publication of Johnston's "Clean Straw For Nothing."
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