WIFEDOM

THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN S PRIZE FOR NON FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE A marvellous book I just loved it all and have a permanently marked up dog eared copy on my shelf for the next generation Tom Hanks Furious and fascinating The Times 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 is led to question what it takes to be a writer and what it is to be a wife A spellbinding achievement FT Brilliant Claire Tomalin Wonderful unexpected and exciting Antonia Fraser