A review by serendipitysbooks
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

 Wifedom was an engagingly written but infuriating read, deliberately so. It looks at the life of Eileen O'Shaughnessy, otherwise known as the wife of George Orwell. The focus is particularly on their marriage, her contributions to his life and career, and the way he and his biographers have undervalued and erased those contributions. Funder also considers her own writing career and marriage and comments more generally on the unpaid and unrecognized labour of women. I found her arguments based on newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend plus informed, considered speculation to be plausible and persuasive. I was left questioning exactly what Eileen, clearly intelligent and well-educated, a go-getter with support from friends and family, saw in Orwell and why she remained with him. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings