Breathtakingly Brilliant: Read Our Review of Wifedom by Anna Funder

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 WWII in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell’s private life, she’s 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’s a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.

If you’re in search of wow-factor in terms of sheer literary inventiveness, courage and mastery, this is your book. Part novel, part biography, and part criticism, Funder takes us by the hand (and at times by the throat) with this superbly written deeply mined, breathtaking work.

There were multiple jaw-dropping moments as Funder fearlessly uncovers the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy. Eileen is a woman who has been rendered almost invisible, and wholly mute by the six major male biographers of Orwell’s life…. and minimalised by Orwell himself.

Funder shares her own journey with us, her inner conflicts in a post-#MeToo world, she reckons with her literary hero to liberate his wife. Funder leaves no stone unturned; there’s a candour in her courage that is electric. She shifts seamlessly in her episodic reimaginings of Eileen and Orwell’s experiences and interchanges, leaning on the actual letters exchanged between Eileen and Nora Myles.

What’s revealed and what Funder harnesses in Eileen’s character is a woman who’s bright, funny, witty, and stoic to a fault. Eileen subjugates herself repeatedly, and is subjugated by both Orwell and a broader patriarchal expectation, leading to dire consequences.  There’s a sense of urgency and discovery in Funder’s tone as she passionately uncovers the truth and voice of Eileen, placing her back, front and centre, in Orwell’s life.

Wifedom is incredibly clever, rigorous, funny and awe-inspiring. It’s a must-read.

Buy a copy of Wifedom here.