George Orwell and his wife Eileen wrote Animal Farm together in bed

A discussion of Anna Funder's new book, Wifedom

And, if Funder is right, most credit for that book—its conception, its allegorical form, its insight, its character development, its structural perfection—is owed to Eileen rather than to George.

George also owes Eileen the name of that other little tome he wrote, Nineteen Eighty-Four, a title he likely took from a poem about a dystopian future Eileen h…