G
eorge Orwell’s literary contributions were made possible by his first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, who sacrificed her own ambitions in psychology to support him. However, Anna Funder’s captivating book, Wifedom, exposes the untold story of a woman overshadowed in Orwell’s work and poorly portrayed by his biographers. Prior to their meeting, O’Shaughnessy wrote a dystopian poem titled “End of the Century, 1984.” She also suggested that Orwell write an animal fable instead of a direct condemnation of Stalinism. Furthermore, she recognized her husband’s “extraordinary political simplicity.” Although Orwell briefly mentions a shopping trip with her in Homage to Catalonia, he fails to acknowledge her political involvement in the offices of Poum (the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification) during the Spanish Civil War. Despite great risks, she assisted in the evacuation of party members after Stalin’s order to eliminate them, including saving Orwell’s manuscript.
Funder deeply admires Orwell’s work and aims to present a critical yet honest portrayal of him in Wifedom without “cancelling” his achievements. However, she emphasizes that O’Shaughnessy has already been “cancelled” by patriarchy—buried first by domestic life and then by the pages of history. Funder shares Orwell’s motivation for writing, aiming to expose lies and draw attention to important facts. Due to the limited information available on O’Shaughnessy’s short life, Funder supplements the facts with brief, novelistic sketches, offering a fresh perspective on this overlooked woman.
Historian Dr. Bettany Hughes highlights the underrepresentation of women in history, noting that they account for only 0.5% of recorded history despite being 50% of the population. Furthermore, even the few women remembered are often reduced to stereotypes rather than complex individuals. Hallie Rubenhold’s book, The Five, illustrates the need to reclaim women’s stories. Instead of focusing solely on the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper, Rubenhold delves into the lives of the victims, challenging the assumptions that they were all prostitutes. By assembling information from various sources, Rubenhold crafts vivid portraits of these women. Their lives, including experiences of homelessness and personal tragedies, prove to be more intriguing than their deaths.
These books go beyond merely rediscovering their subjects; they also prompt reflection on a world that values and celebrates women’s talents, acknowledges their imperfections without harsh judgment, and allows them to exist independently. The authors not only shed light on the historical figures and the societies they inhabited but also encourage readers to question the missing perspectives in historical narratives and biographies.
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