Introduction

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.

Content and Significance

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. Eileen was 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.