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!

I find so many books take me a while to embrace; All That I Am is not one of those. How could I not be immediately invested with an opening line: “When Hitler came to power I was in the bath.” Come on people, what a cracker!
I felt humbled by Ruth, and Dora and Toller and their friends and allies. Ordinary people living in extraordinary times, who didn’t travel the safe road. Would I have been as brave in similar circumstances? I think not.
Funder has nailed the passion, both personal and political shared by these very real people. This book is all about love, in all its messy, complicated beauty: “At the end of our lives it is our loves we remember most, because they are what shaped us. We have grown to be who we are around them, as around a stake. And when the stake is gone?” She continues this imagery 150 pages on “It is only when your beloved leaves you that you realize the stake is gone, and where they were there is only cold air, with nothing to hold you up.” - Perfect!
This story, based on real people, will break your heart.