I had this book for a while before reading it as I mainly bought it as an adjunct to research I was doing. What I didn’t expect when I finally picked it up was that I would enjoy it so much.
Engagingly and eruditely written, the book is ostensibly an examination of the life of Elaine Shaugnessey, the clever, attractive and educated wife of Eric Blair, better known to the world as George Orwell. A passionate advocate for Orwell’s work, Funder was nevertheless shocked, when she embarked on a re-reading of some of Orwell’s seminal essays and books during Covid, to discover that his wife, despite being at his side through much of his writing life, was absent from his non-fiction works and often, his Acknowledgments. But it was the discovery of a cache of letters written by Eileen to her best friend that sent Funder on a deep dive into the Orwells’ life and a forensic and subjective reading of the many biographies (written by men) about the author and his life, as well as his works.
What she discovered and uncovered was his wife – passively present. She is the erased and quiet woman who sacrificed time, health and, ultimately, her self to ensure her husband could fulfill his ambitions – mainly (but not exclusively) to write.
Consequently, as Funder considers what Eileen willingly and unwillingly (as much because she was constrained by circumstances and the social, cultural and gendered milieu and expectations), sacrificed or had taken from her, is how it impacted her own professional praxis and personal life. How wifedom, as a role invented and upheld by patriarchy for their benefit, still thrives. Even in the Twenty-First Century, it enslaves supposedly liberated women who always make the sacrifice of time, desire, ambition and dreams – often at terrible cost.
Part fact, part fiction, Funder cleverly imagines projected scenarios between Eileen and George (and which often paint Orwell in a terrible light), creates probable dialogues – interior as well – and tries to offer an alternative reading of the Orwell’s relationship than that presented by mainstream biographers – a relationship that consistently benefited him and his reputation, even after death.
While it’s important to remember that this is not a biography and nor does it purport to be, that it does fictionalise what can’t be proven (and which some readers may find problematic), it does so with nuance and, in the end, and despite the narcissism and shocking selfishness of Orwell, compassion and humanity for a man who, sadly if not tragically, only seemed to know appreciate what and who he had once she was lost to him.
A fascinating book that has stayed with me for a long, long time.