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Book of the Week: Episode 4 - Doublethink and Other Women

In Anna Funder's intimate portrait of George Orwell's marriage to Eileen it's 1938. The pair travel to Morocco, and George makes a shocking request. Fenella Woolgar reads.

In Anna Funder's intimate portrait of George Orwell's marriage to his first but forgotten wife, Eileen, it is now 1938. The pair travel to Morocco where George makes a request which leaves Eileen hollow and humiliated. Fenella Woolgar reads.

The award-winning writer, Anna Funder, best known for Stasiland and All that I Am, has immersed herself in the scholarship on George Orwell to write Wifedom. Here Funder shines a light on Eileen, Orwell's extraordinary wife. Using newly discovered letters written by Eileen, Funder paints an intimate portrait of a forgotten woman, and one of the twentieth century's most significant literary marriages. She also illuminates the social and cultural values that kept Eileen in the shadows, and continue to shape how the world regards the unsung work of wives everywhere.

Abridged by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard

14 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Thu 17 Aug 2023 09:45
  • Fri 18 Aug 2023 00:30