Eileen O'Shaughnessy, in her own words : the complete letters of George Orwell's wife / Angela Smith, Sylvia Topp.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Angela, 1969- author.

Topp, Sylvia, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Blair, Eileen, 1905-1945--Correspondence.

Blair, Eileen.

Orwell, George, 1903-1950--Marriage.

Orwell, George.

Orwell, George, 1903-1950--Correspondence.

Authors' spouses--England--Correspondence.

Authors' spouses.

Authors' spouses--Great Britain--Biography.

Genre:

Correspondence

Physical Description:

xiii, 245 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Palgrave Macmillan, an imprint of Springer Nature Switzerland, [2025]

Summary:

"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 and analysed. 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. 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." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: School and juvenilia (1905-1921)

Chapter 3: Oxford and London (1922-1934)

Chapter 4: Meeting Orwell and marriage (1935-1936)

Chapter 5: Saving Orwell twice (1936-1938)

Chapter 6: To Marrakesh (1938-1939)

Chapter 7: At war (1939-1941)

Chapter 8: Eileen at the Ministry of Food (1941-1944)

Chapter 9: Last letters (1945).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3032033667

9783032033666

OCLC:

1528937951

Publisher Number:

CIPO000280417