When I decided each Sunday I would feature a woman I considered “indomitable”, I never realized how many of the descriptions of this word in the thesaurus would fit Florence. When I chose the word for the category, it seemed to represent a person who was strong and fearless, a type of woman I wanted to discuss.
So let’s look closer at Ms. Broadhurst. First, she was Australian. She was also unconquerable, invulnerable, unshakable, unsinkable, stalwart, stout-hearted, strong-willed, strong-minded, resolute, firm, determined, courageous, brave, intrepid, fearless, plucky, and gritty. I would also add that she was a chameleon, a charlatan, and often a woman without integrity. She was revolutionary in her thinking because she lived life with power, vengeance, and unwavering confidence. I am quite convinced if I had met her that she would have great disdain for me, and I most likely would have feared her very presence. I am strong but not fierce. She did not seem to cater or pander to gentle, thoughtful ways, but she was also a woman who reinvented herself continually, and for that trait, how can one not be impressed and captivated? After all, no one is perfect. We all have flaws. It just seemed that Florence knew what she wanted in an instant and went after it with no holds barred. She was indeed indomitable.
She was a woman who lived “on different continents, tailoring her name and her history for each one. She carved her own bold passage through an era of enormous social upheaval, stepping into each life as though it was a new theatrical role. She employed a different regimen of hair, make-up and clothing for each one.” Further “{she} quite literally changed with the times.” Personally, I think she was brilliant. Would I want her as my bosom buddy? Definitely not.
One of my favorite ways to relax and let my mind calm down is to go into a bookstore and browse. When I picked up her book, I was immediately taken in by her fresh, timely designs and her ability to fuse the color with the concept. Modern? Yes, but also classic at the same time. Her medium? Wallpaper design. I fell for her vision and bought the book with no regrets. Her life was immense. Her attributes and her faults larger than life. To present a chronology would be a daunting task. And her death was equally shocking and bizarre. She was murdered in her wallpaper studio on October 14, 1977 shortly after her only child, an adult son, had left her after an argument, one of many that was common. Her body was discovered in a gruesome state, and they never found the killer.
After reading this book, I did a little research on her and found that a couple in Australia, Helen and David Lennie had preserved her archives and were beginning to print and sell her wallpaper designs. They also offered textiles, and the ones I have featured are actually samples that I ordered from the company so I could have a better feel for her designs. It is not a disappointing read if you can weather through some of her follies and her outlandish, sometimes dishonest countenance. It is, as they say, stranger than fiction.
Wow, what a description. I don’t think I would want that kind of epitaph. But she sounds like you channeled her and she wrote it. But, that said, her designs are magnificent. I think that I would want that as my epitaph.
“She was a Designing Woman”. Now, I think that encompasses it all, the good and the bad?
What an interesting coincidence–just got an email from my library telling me that the Florence Broadhurst book is ready for me to pick up. I’ve been waiting quite a while for it — it’s a popular read.
life indeed is almost always stranger than fiction…i like how your review is two sided.
I checked out Florence Broadhurst’s biography from our library and read it in 3 sittings. I am interested in the fact that although she did not have real talent as a visual artist she was still able to bring forth lasting, beautiful art using others’ talents under her super-vision, and this despite her failing vision. In short, she could not see well, but saw greatly. She could not draw well, but drew the world to her door. What a woman!
As usual, thank you for sharing your indominatable women and your lovely fabrics with me. Hope you are back to healthy wholeness soon.
Julia,
What a fine and completely accurate description you provided about Florence Broadhurst. I loved your lines, “she could not see well, but saw greatly. She could not draw well, but drew the world to her door.” Very powerful analysis of her, absolutely true and so beautifully expressed. Thank you for coming back to this, and sharing such rich and well interpreted insight on her. Since you did recently read the book, I also wondered if someone close to her, one of her “talents” had murdered her because she had essentially stolen designs from several and claimed that they were her own. Perhaps this was a form of retribution.
Hi Phyllis,
I also wondered if a betrayed and gruntled ex-employee killed Florence, but this is a stretch when you really think about it…too anti-ethical for most true lovers of beauty. The book said that a man named John Glover, who was a distant relative of an ex-employee, and who had met Florence once in 1973 at a wedding, was convicted in 1991 for 5 heinous “Granny Killings,” the worst serial murders Australia has ever seen. Although he never admitted to killing Florence, the manner of her death fit his modus operandi perfectly, and she is presumed to be his first victim.
(It is possible that years later, over the last bit of a full bottle of good wine, a few of her “talents” could have remarked, “She got what she deserved, the old bat!”) But I am exposing my own shallow ethics!
Love, Julia
No shallow ethics here. Florence definitely had some enemies as well as competitors. I wondered about J. Glover too, but it struck me as an easy solution to a question that was too painful to leave hanging. It was a fascinating read. I still find it hard to believe that the killer could never be identified. I think there is more to this than we will ever know. Your review was great. You have a gift for this. Hope you are doing well, and thanks for the interest.