Wifedom
Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:7th Mar '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£20.00(9780241482728)
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'Truly wonderful... Anna Funder has written another brilliant human portrait.' - Claire Tomalin
A BLAZING, GENRE-BENDING MASTERPIECE FROM ONE OF THE MOST INVENTIVE WRITERS OF OUR TIME
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.
'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, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
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 *
A strikingly original study that casts Orwell in new light. Deeply perceptive, it is testament to forgotten wives of famous men everywhere. * Julia Boyd *
Furious and fascinating * The Times *
Astonishing... Wifedom is no less than the rescue of a remarkable woman from the deliberate ellipses of default male history. -- Caroline Criado-Perez, bestselling author of INVISIBLE WOMEN
Taylor's updated life will send readers back to Orwell's compelling visions of state power and surveillance with fresh appreciation. Still, it is Funder's evocation of Eileen's fugitive life that haunts this reader's imagination. It is a spellbinding achievement * FT *
An utter triumph, and nothing short of a miracle * Anne Summers *
Wonderful, unexpected and exciting from beginning to end * Antonia Fraser *
ISBN: 9780241482742
Dimensions: 197mm x 129mm x 28mm
Weight: 321g
464 pages