Sylvia Topp

Angela Smith

This book brings together the complete letters of Eileen O'Shaughnessy, the first wife of Eric Blair, the man we know as George Orwell. Although they married in 1936 and spent the next nine years together, Eileen’s extensive influence on Orwell’s work is only now being understood. This collection of letters is enhanced by interviews with some of those who remember being told as children that Eileen had an extremely important role in the final style and writing of Animal Farm. The couple were prolific letter-writers, and about 65 of Eileen’s letters have survived. These letters offer us a glimpse into their lives and marriage in Eileen’s own words. Eileen was an accomplished writer in her lifetime, and the letters are erudite and entertaining, whilst offering tantalizing glimpses of what it was like to share a life with the creative genius that is George Orwell.

The Complete Letters of George Orwell's Wife

Eileen O’Shaughnessy, in Her Own Words

Eileen: The Making of Orwell is the first on this extraordinary woman who has been until now unjustly overlooked. It examines the Blairs' nine year marriage, from a tiny village where they grew vegetables and tended their own goats and chickens, through the dangers of the Spanish Civil War, nursing George in Morocco after a severe bout of tubercular bleeding, narrowly escaping the destruction of their London apartment in World War II, and even adopting a baby boy when it became apparent that they were unable to have their own child. And their partnership produced some of the greatest works in English literature. "Now," George told a friend the night he met Eileen O'Shaughnessy, "that's the kind of girl I would like to marry." The year before, Eileen had published a futuristic poem called "End of the Century, 1984." Later, George would name his greatest work, 1984, in homage to the memory of Eileen.

The Making of Orwell

Eileen

This is the never-before-told story of George Orwell's first wife, Eileen, a woman who shaped, supported, and even saved the life of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. In 1934, Eileen O'Shaughnessy's futuristic poem, 'End of the Century, 1984', was published. The next year, she would meet George Orwell, then known as Eric Blair, at a party. 'Now that is the kind of girl I would like to marry!' he remarked that night. Years later, Orwell would name his greatest work, Nineteen Eighty-Four, in homage to the memory of Eileen, the woman who shaped his life and his art in ways that have never been acknowledged by history, until now. From the time they spent in a tiny village tending goats and chickens, through the Spanish Civil War, to the couple's narrow escape from the destruction of their London flat during a German bombing raid, and their adoption of a baby boy, Eileen is the first account of the Blairs' nine-year marriage. It is also a vivid picture of bohemianism, political engagement, and sexual freedom in the 1930s and '40s. Through impressive depth of research, illustrated throughout with photos and images from the time, this captivating and inspiring biography offers a completely new perspective on Orwell himself, and most importantly tells the life story of an exceptional woman who has been unjustly overlooked.

Sylvia Topp

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