Wifedom
Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
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4.0 • 83 Ratings
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
* A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2023 *
* THE FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2023 - LITERARY NON-FICTION *
'Simply, a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. And this in a narrative that grips the reader and unfolds through some of the most consequential moments - historical and cultural - of the twentieth century.' GERALDINE BROOKS
‘There’s exhilaration in reading every brilliant word.’ CHLOE HOOPER
Looking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, 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…
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.
‘So, she will live writing the letters she did – six to her best friend, and three to her husband. I know where she was when she wrote them. I know that the dishes were frozen in the sink, that she was bleeding, that he was in bed with another woman – and she knew it. . . .I supply only what a film director would, directing an actor on set – the wiping of spectacles, the ash on the carpet, a cat pouring itself off her lap.’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eileen O'Shaughnessy, George Orwell's first wife, takes center stage in this potent biography. Funder (Stasiland), a former human rights lawyer, suggests that O'Shaughnessy, who married Orwell in 1936 and stayed with him until her death nine years later from a botched hysterectomy, was crucial to Orwell's success; she typed and edited his manuscripts, managed his correspondence, cooked his meals, nursed him through ill health, tolerated his sexual affairs, and even cleaned the outhouse at their country home. According to Funder, she also directly influenced some of her husband's most famous work, encouraging him to express his criticism of Stalinism as a satirical novel (Animal Farm) instead of the essay he had planned, and possibly inspiring 1984 with her poem "End of the Century, 1984," about "a dystopian future of telepathy and mind control." Funder pulls no punches when discussing Orwell's cruelty, taking him to task for allegedly demanding that O'Shaughnessy let him sleep with one of the "young Arab girls" he had been eyeing while the pair were traveling in Morocco. Stylistic flourishes enhance the account, most notably the novelistic interludes interspersing Funder's narration with first-person passages drawn from O'Shaughnessy's letters that recreate scenes from her life, such as lying ill in London while the city was bombed during WWII. Full of keen psychological insight and eloquent prose, this shines. Photos.
Customer Reviews
Behind every great man…
3.5 stars
Not a full blown character assassination of Mr Blair, more a severe wounding, but hey, times were different, right? Brittania might have been on her last legs, but toxic masculinity still ruled.
What really cheesed me off was the way the book is put together. Basically, it’s a mish-mash of previously published biographical in formation, presumed personal interactions based on limited information, Eileen’s letters of which there are relatively small number, and recollections of people who knew the couple, however briefly, overlaid with the author’s interpretation of those recollections and the relationship.
Geraldine Brooks is quoted in the blurb as saying, “Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full.”
Call me an old fuddy-duddy (I’ve been called worse), but I prefer biographies that are linear and heavy on verifiable fact. The woman resurrected here is interesting. Whether she represents an accurate portrait of Eileen O’Shaughnessy is less clear. (Disclaimer: Old white guy opinion)
Soldier on and read it all…. It’s a great read
I struggled with some parts of this book initially because the structure is based on three different voices or perspectives and it took a while for me to figure out who was speaking when or where the text was referenced from. I got so angry with some parts of this book as it really demonstrates systemic issues around women, assigned societal roles and lack of recognition. It really questioned my regard for Orwell and shed a new light on what an intelligent and overlooked women his wife. It seems likely she was more than an editor of his work. She was intimately involved in the concepts and development of his stories. Orwell was a womaniser and not very nice to his wife and he never gave her the credit she was due.