Sylvia Topp

This book provides background to George Orwell's married life, during which some of his books (not 1984) were written. The first three chapters, though, give a summary of his partner Eileen’s relatives two generations back, her schooling and university years, which is at times sketchy and and not clearly relevant to her adult life before and with Orwell. The snippets of collated information include tutors’ reports, claims of a handwriting analyst and speculations of friends. The middle show more of the book employs more direct sources such as letters from George and Eileen to their respective friends, and supports the claim that Eileen or their shared experiences probably had some influence on Orwell's later novels, notably names, locations and gentle humour in Animal Farm. The content of Orwell's essays and book reviews are not much mentioned except to say they took time away from writing books. Nevertheless, too much seems conjectural, such as “Eileen’s idea of introducing Indian food to the British public” via rationed food recipes described in the wartime kitchen radio programme she produced, “no doubt contributed to its vast appreciation throughout England today.”

The book includes source notes and a good index. Its publication was crowdfunded. show less