Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life

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Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
First edition cover
AuthorAnna Funder
PublisherPenguin
Publication date4 July 2023
ISBN9780143787112

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life is a book written by Australian author, Anna Funder. First published as a paperback and an eBook by Penguin Books on 4 July 2023[1] in the UK, the USA, and Australia, it was subsequently released in other countries, including France, Italy, Denmark, and Korea. Wifedom is a hybrid work that blends memoir, biography, and sections of biofiction seamlessly to interrogate the gender dynamics of Orwell’s first marriage.[2]

In Wifedom, Funder uses letters discovered in 2005 from George Orwell’s first wife, Eileen, to her best friend from college to recreate the Orwells’ marriage. Eileen O’Shaughnessy was an Oxford-educated English graduate and writer who studied under J.R.R. Tolkien. She was also active in Spain during the Spanish Civil War,[3] working in propaganda at the Head Office of the International Labour Party while Orwell was in the trenches. Eileen also worked to support the couple financially during their marriage,[2] including during the war in London at the Department of Censorship, and she collaborated closely with Orwell on the writing of Animal Farm.[3]

Critical reception

Wifedom was an instant Sunday Times Bestseller on release in August 2023. Hailed as "electrifying" by Kirkus Reviews (starred review)[4] and "a spellbinding achievement" by the Financial Times,[5] Wifedom was a New York Times Notable Book of 2023[6] and named a Book of the Year by The Guardian, the Independent, the Economist, LitHub, the Telegraph, the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, and the Times.[6]

Robert McCrum, in The Independent called it "One of the most startling explorations of life-writing (Eileen’s, Orwell's, and Funder’s) in recent times . . . Wifedom is a genre-bending tour-de-force that resurrects an invisible woman, and relitigates the saintly image of the man she called 'Eric' . . . a moving, forensic act of biographical reconstruction."[7]

Sarah Bakewell in the New York Times described it as, "A virtuoso performance on the theme, adding personal memoir, some fictional reconstructions and a glittering sense of purpose."[8]  

Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks called it "Simply a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only remakes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. And this in a narrative that grips the reader and unfolds through some of the most consequential moments—historical and cultural—of the twentieth century."[9]

Wifedom was BBC 4 Book of the Week.[10] It is being published in translation in many countries around the world.

Awards

Wifedom won the following awards:

  • Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger 2024[11]
  • ABIA (Australian Book Industry Award) Biography Book of the Year Award, 2024[12]
  • BookPeople (Book Data) 2024 Non-Fiction Book of the Year[13]

and was nominated for:

  • Prix Medicis (shortlisted)[14]
  • ELLE Grand Prix des Lectrices (shortlist)[14]
  • FNAC Prix du Roman 2024[15]
  • The Women’s Prize (longlisted)[14]
  • The Gordon Burn Prize (shortlist)[14]
  • NIB Award (shortlisted)[16]
  • Indie Book Awards (longlisted)[17]

References

  1. "Wifedom by Anna Funder (Trade Paperback)". penguin.com.au. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  2. Padmore, Catherine (2025-01-02). ""Who Controls the Past Controls the Future": Biofictions of Orwell and Their Contemporary Political Engagements". a/b: Auto/Biography Studies. 40 (1): 27–47. doi:10.1080/08989575.2025.2453299. ISSN 0898-9575.
  3. Chappell, Elizabeth (2025-05-04). "Where Biography Meets Fictionality: Imaginative Incursions in Anna Funder's Wifedom and Kiera Lindsey's Wild Love". Journal of Language, Literature and Culture. 72 (2): 97–114. doi:10.1080/20512856.2025.2548872. ISSN 2051-2856.
  4. WIFEDOM | Kirkus Reviews.
  5. Harding, Jason (2 August 2023). "Two sides of George Orwell". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  6. "Wifedom by Anna Funder - 9780143778080 - QBD Books". qbd.com.au. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  7. "Genius writer, cruel husband: we can never look at George Orwell the same way again". The Independent. 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  8. Bakewell, Sarah (2023-08-26). "One Biography Questions Orwell's Image, and Another Brings His First Wife Into Focus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  9. Funder, Anna. "Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life". Paperback Bookshop. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  10. "BBC Radio 4 - Wifedom - Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder". BBC. Retrieved 2026-06-25.
  11. Funder, Anna. "Anna Funder Wins the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger – Essai for The Invisible Madame Orwell". www.penguin.com.au. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  12. "2024 Archives". ABIA. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  13. "The 2024 BookPeople Book of the Year Awards". Readings Books. Archived from the original on 2026-03-06. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  14. "Funder wins Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger | Books+Publishing". www.booksandpublishing.com.au. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  15. FCINQ, Sophiane (2024-07-18). "30 books shortlisted for the Prix du Roman Fnac 2024". Fnac Darty. Retrieved 2026-06-28.
  16. Mem: 10488384. "Nib Literary Award 2024 finalists announced | Books+Publishing". www.booksandpublishing.com.au. Retrieved 2026-06-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. AusIndieBooks (2023-12-06). "Longlist Announced for the 2024 Indie Book Awards". Indie Book Awards. Retrieved 2026-06-28.