{"id":43042,"date":"2025-05-15T06:30:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=43042"},"modified":"2025-05-14T21:11:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T09:11:32","slug":"just-arrived-wifedom-mrs-orwells-invisible-life-by-anna-funder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2025\/05\/15\/just-arrived-wifedom-mrs-orwells-invisible-life-by-anna-funder\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Arrived — “Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life” by Anna Funder"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since I’ve had occasion to do a “Just Arrived” post — which might be because the TBR pile has gotten somewhat high. All right, very<\/em> high! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wifedom<\/em> however, does come very highly recommended by a friend and fellow reader — and the review quotes on the cover do seem to bear that out. We have an “Electrifying”<\/em> from Kirkus Reviews, “Brilliant”<\/em> from The Guardian, and “Spellbinding”<\/em> from the Financial Times.<\/p>\n

Many of you may already have beaten me to reading Wifedom<\/em>, since it came out in 2023, but for those who haven’t, it’s an exploration of the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy, who married Eric Blair — better known to most of us by his penname of George Orwell.<\/p>\n

In terms of what it’s all about, the title may be self-explanatory, but the back cover offers more:<\/p>\n

“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\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it\u2019s a revelation. Eileen O\u2019Shaughnessy\u2019s literary brilliance shaped Orwell\u2019s work and her practical nous saved his life. But why \u2013 and how \u2013 was she written out of the story?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells\u2019 marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell\u2019s private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer \u2013 and what it is to be a wife.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Compelling and utterly original,\u00a0Wifedom 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.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It does sound interesting, and I’m assured it’s as good as the one word reviews above promise. I’m particularly interested in how it’s written as I understand that it’s a mix of biography, creative non-fiction, and some fictional elements.<\/p>\n

So watch this space for m’terribly important thoughts — in due course, of course. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since I’ve had occasion to do a “Just Arrived” post — which might be because the TBR pile has gotten somewhat high. All right, very high! \ud83d\ude00 Wifedom however, does come very highly recommended by a friend and fellow reader — and the review quotes on the cover do seem to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-justarrived"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43042"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43048,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43042\/revisions\/43048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}