Brock Perks

Brilliant and heart-breaking. Anna Funder doesn't just reveal Eileen O'Shaughnessy, she breathes life into George Orwell's most devoted supporter - the woman, it can be reasonably argued - without whom he may never have written the cultural and political landmark, Animal Farm. But of course Wifedom is about all women whose labours and genius have been subsumed within patriarchy. For our society's enrichment, invisible women, like Eileen, need to be seen, and heard.

Shriver's subversive genius at work again, delivering an unsettling but hilarious meditation on various possibilities awaiting the elderly in the early 21st century. Little here provides comfort, but then, providing comfort is not the job of an honest writer. I loved it, despite staring (now fixedly) down the barrel of chronological seniority.