Review: Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
Gaby Meares
Well, how to respond to this book? I listened to the audio edition, so have no quotes to support my review. So I will keep it brief: I felt Funder projected way too much of her own bias into this ‘biography’ of Orwell’s first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy. How could she possibly know what went on between Orwell and Eileen, apart from the few details Eileen revealed in letters she wrote to her best friend? It’s way too much supposition. I also found the constant references made to Funder’s current life an interruption, rather than a worthy addition to the book. And why did she continue writing about Orwell after Eileen’s death - wasn’t the ‘biography’ supposed to be about Eileen? Isn’t Funder almost doing what she found so abhorrent in the first place: erasing Eileen to tell Orwell’s story.
I think if Funder had chosen to write this as fiction (because let’s face it, there is a lot of fiction between the covers of this book) I would not be feeling so cross!