The Girl from the Fiction Department: A Portrait of Sonia Orwell by Hilary Spurling

The portrait of George Orwells second wife drawn by his biographers is a travesty. Determined to set the record straight, her friend Hilary Spurling, herself an acclaimed biographer, reveals the whole story of Sonia Orwells sad and splendid life. Beautiful, intelligent, and idealistic, but also, as she grew older, belligerent and intimidating, Sonia was the model for Julia, heroine of Orwells 1984. Her friends and admirers included W.H. Auden, Lucian Freud, and Frances Bacon. She was Cyril Connollys indispensable assistant on the influential literary magazine Horizon during the 1940s and in the 60s she co-edited the groundbreaking four-volume collection of Orwells nonfiction writings. Nonetheless, she has most frequently been depicted as mean and mercenary. Spurling portrays the real Sonia Orwell in all her generous, spirited, ferocious, and self-doubting complexity.

Author: Hilary Spurling

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

Pages: 208

Publisher: Counterpoint

Publication Date: 2004-05-05