Casting light on the neglected Eileen O'Shaughnessy and her marriage to George Orwell, this tour de force of biographical writing from the author of Stasiland doubles as a fitting tribute to the unsung work of women everywhere.
Shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2023/24
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2024
Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own, and when she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous saved his life. But why - and how - was she written out of the story?
Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell's private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer - and what it is to be a wife.
Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241482728
Number of pages: 464
Weight: 700 g
Dimensions: 236 x 158 x 44 mm
A marvelous book . . . I just loved it all, and have a permanently marked-up, dog-eared copy on my shelf for the next generation. - Tom Hanks
Simply, a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. - Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Truly wonderful... Anna Funder has written another brilliant human portrait. - Claire Tomalin
Electrifying... Daring in both form and content, Funder's book is a nuanced, sophisticated literary achievement - Kirkus
This book has left me conflicted in so many ways. First of all, Anna Funder has painted a searing portrait of George Orwell that reveals him to be an unpleasant man, often in his personal life contradicting the ideas... More
This was a good read for me. I am not sure what the complete truth of Eileen Orwell’s life with George was given the apparently scant material she left behind, but I am inclined to believe she was , like many of her... More
If you're looking for a straight biography, this is not it. In attempting to piece together the life of George Orwell's wife, Eileen, Funder is forced to reckon with a deep anger within her for her own life... More
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