Book review: Australian Book Industry Awards winner by writer Anna Funder
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder is a deep-dive biography into the private lives and works of powerful literary couple Eileen O’Shaughnessy and Eric Blair (aka George Orwell).
Funder forensically unearths the vivid and ingenious Eileen while layering in much of her own modern domestic struggles and observations.
Importantly this Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Random House) life story won the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Biography Book of the year, plus many other international accolades.
So keep reading to find out more about this long-lost character plus tips for your own life-story creating…
What Wifedom is all about
This 464-page biography is many stories wrapped up into one.
First is how Funder rediscovers her love for Orwell’s work and the joy of writing herself.
However, it is also about finding the missing story of Eileen through newly uncovered letters to her best friend and ‘shadows’ left scattered through Orwell’s works.
Finally it is a stark look at how wives can be (consciously or unconsciously) wedded to domesticity so that husbands have time, energy and freedom to pursue their dreams and desires.
In short, the unfair sacrifices of wifedom.
“Whether Orwell saw it that evening at Rosalind’s or later, Eileen’s unshakeable integrity and her independent mind, her gift for storytelling and her ability to prick the absurdities of those around her clearly delighted him.”
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Highlights from Funder’s book
Wifedom shines a spotlight not just on the Orwells but much of modern history.
For example, we learn a lot about the Spanish Civil War when the pair travel from England to serve and support the Republican government as democratic socialists.
Also about the terror of living through the deadly London Blitz.
Other revelations include Orwell’s real name Eric Blair and the adoption of son Richard Blair.
“This book is a risk: to show you the injustice of the world might harrow and harm you. Or, it might arm you against it.”
Related article – G-Man: Groundbreaking biography about Washington FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
Tips from Wifedom
There is much Wifedom can teach us as life-story creators.
Firstly, there is much power in what you leave in a story and what you leave out.
In this instance, Funder realised Orwell was not telling the whole truth in his writings and this sparked a passionate ‘why’ for her own work.
Secondly, letters can be a powerful foundation to recreate moments in time that burst with setting details and telling character illuminations.
Finally, there are no hard and fast rules about chapters.
Indeed they can be short or long as well as a mix of perspectives and time periods.
“So, she will live writing the letters she did – six to her best friend, and three to her husband. I know where she was when she wrote them. I know that the dishes were frozen in the sink, that she was bleeding, that he was in bed with another woman – and she knew it. . . .I supply only what a film director would, directing an actor on set – the wiping of spectacles, the ash on the carpet, a cat pouring itself off her lap.”
Related article – Tell the truth: The surefire way to out skeletons in the closet
Related article – Story setting: What is a story setting and setting examples
Read article – Chapters: 3 questions answered about book chapters
Final say: Wifedom
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder dissects what it takes to be a writer and what it is to be a wife.
Using newly uncovered letters the biography masterfully draws the brilliant Eileen O’Shaughnessy from out of the shadows of her husband’s famous writings.
Certainly read this utterly original life story to discover how the couple worked collaboratively on Orwell’s bestsellers.
But also to see how Eileen saved Orwell’s life more than once at the expense of her own.
Happy writing and reading!
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What letters have you kept through the years? What was the last letter you wrote? Drop me an email or leave a reply in the comments section at the end of this article.
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