Welcome to Litsy!

A fascinating story of a woman lost in the shadow of a man's life story, a tale as old as time. Eileen O'Shaugnessy wrote a dystopian poem '1984' before her husband George's opus, went to Spain & helped order the republican fight leading to her facing death on both fascist + stalinist blacklists,+gave ideas toward Animal Farm, but is barely mentioned in Homage to Catalonia or biographies of Orwell. An excellent book that was compelling read.

Still reading books from last years Women‘s Prize NF and they have all been BRILLIANT reads - more so than this years imo. I wasn‘t really drawn to this but I‘m glad I read it - loved the way it was written, the way Funder gives Eileen a voice and shows another side to Orwell (so misogynistic) that his biographers tried to sidestep. A tale as old as time really - a man not acknowledging a woman‘s part/taking credit for all the work.

Super interesting read, and a really interesting perspective, focusing on a woman who has been largely forgotten by history

3.5 🌟 a disturbing dystopian read, with parallels to the handmaids tale but much much darker. Playing on the cruelty of teenage girls to each other and for perfection is spookily familiar in todays society , throw in how women have lost the right to their own bodies in the USA and many other countries & the aggressive dominance of men & the eroding of women‘s rights world wide it is eerily reminiscent & scary,

It‘s late there‘s a fine 🤣so binge reading in the British spring sunshine ☀️ 😎

My friend is reading this one🤔.

Man, George Orwell does not come off well in this book!
An account of the first wife of George Orwell, the celebrated author of 1984 and Animal Farm, shining a light on his misogyny. The book however transcends beyond just the life of the wife, it brings into light the inherent patriarchy prevalent in our society since times immemorial, with a special focus of male misogynistic authors and their privilege.

Sometimes just by thinking about it I magic books into Little Free Libraries. That was the case with the tagged book yesterday which I was pleased to discover on my way to two hours of ballet last night in the rain.

This book is part biography, part fiction and part memoir of the author. A strange combination and I wasn‘t sure what to make of it at first. I like George Orwell‘s work but this book looks at his wife Eileen and her role and influence on his work. And how she has been ignored by everyone including Orwell. It left me thinking that Orwell was a completely self absorbed a-hole!! The book had me questioning assumptions but rounded them out perfectly