Marina Benjamin

George Orwell’s unacknowledged debt to his wife Eileen

Orwell’s first wife is usually portrayed as a dutiful dogsbody, but her creative influence was considerable, especially in the writing of Animal Farm

Woman in the shadows: one of very few photographs that exist of Eileen O’Shaughnessy. [Alamy]
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  • Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life

    Anna Funder

    Viking, pp. 256, £20

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