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Wifedom
- Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
- Narrated by: Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood, Jane Slavin
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
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Wifedom
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Publisher's Summary
Looking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own…
And when she uncovers his forgotten wife, it’s a revelation. Eileen O’Shaughnessy’s literary brilliance shaped Orwell’s work and her practical nous saved his life. But why – and how – was she written out of the story? Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells’ marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WWII in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell’s private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer – and what it is to be a wife.
Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.
2024 Indie Book Awards Non Fiction Short-listed
2024 Gordon Burn Prize Short-listed
2024 Women's Prize for Non Fiction Long-listed
2024, Australian Book Industry Award Audiobook of the Year, Short-listed
2024, Australian Book Industry Award Biography Book of the Year, Winner
2024, Australian Book Industry Award Social Impact Book of the Year, Short-listed
Critic Reviews
'A sharp, captivating look at a complicated relationship and a resurrection of a vital figure in Orwell’s life.’ (Kirkus Reviews)
‘A virtuoso performance on the theme, adding personal memoir, some fictional reconstructions and a glittering sense of purpose.’ (The New York Times)
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What listeners say about Wifedom
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Win Jodell
- 15-07-2023
All praise for this monumental work
Beautifully written. Impeccably researched. Compellingly read. A timely feminist treatise. Thank you so much Anna Funder.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-08-2023
Trying, but rewarding
Another great book by this author. It was hard to read at some stages, but the story it portrays is so important. Bravo on the research and the quality writing of Funder. I’ve never read Orwell, but I thoroughly enjoy Funder and heard other prominent females praising the book. I appreciate the irony of all that.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 09-09-2023
Brilliant
Best book I’ve read this year. I’m an Orwell fan but still learned a lot about him and his times.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 19-10-2023
Fantastic
This is in my top three books I’ve ever read. It’s beautiful, interesting and all at once revealing about yourself. The performance is perfect. Couldn’t recommend it more highly.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 03-01-2024
Extremely well done book and story
I enjoyed the perspective and weaving of the personal story, the archival material and the dramatisation.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 03-01-2024
Insightful, politically wise and moving
Made me ask questions of my own life. How to be authentic, fully individuated and still get to have a clean kitchen. How to see past the scripted view of our heroes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Robert
- 21-01-2024
Fascinating and important
This is a wonderful book, very well narrated and cleverly conceived. It’s an important retelling of George Orwall’s career, putting his partner Eileeen at the centre of his achievements.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 26-01-2024
Interesting history and story very well told
Very insightful and very good use of historical lessons and dispersed with some imagine that said like accurate narrative.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-02-2024
Anna Funder is a master weaver
Anna has woven voices, lettters, biographies, interviews and her own investigative travels into an outstanding observation on the intense story of George Orwell and his first wife: Eileen. Eileen is possibly one of the most remarkable, witty, powerful and caring woman to brave this world. And her most enduring role: making George feel special. In hindsight, it would have been most decent of Mr Eric Arthur Blair to have adopted the name Mr Eileen O' Shaughnessy. Arianwen and Jane deliver voices that would make Pig skip in sheer delight through her perfumed heavenly haze.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- LainieH
- 26-03-2024
A superb discovery
I was spellbound from the very beginning: never having read George Orwell, but being well aware of him as an author, I wasn’t sure how this story would pan out. Eileen was so beautifully portrayed by Anna Funder and it is to her I will say that it is a truly special and intimate portrait of two largely co-dependent people but for me Eileen is the stand out. I applaud the research and time taken to educate, women especially, about their role in a man’s life. This is a treasure and I thank all involved in bringing it to us as readers. I am so sad that I have finished it.
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