WIFEDOM Discussion Guide

Book Club Discussion Questions

1. Part biography, part memoir, part feminist treatise and part counterfiction, Anna Funder’s Wifedom is a book that defies genre. Discuss the different narrative threads of this work, and the role each plays in the whole.
2. Eileen O’Shaughnessy, George Orwell’s first wife, is a woman elided from history. Why – and how – has she been written out of the story?
3. A biographer’s work is akin to that of an investigation, and in the case of this book, has involved literary, historical, feminist and on-the-ground detective work to bring the subject of Eileen O’Shaughnessy back to life. What sense of Eileen do we have from this resurrection, and what was the extent and nature of her influence on her husband’s work?
4. In 2005 six letters from Eileen to her best friend, Norah Symes Myles, were discovered, which cover the period of Eileen’s marriage to George Orwell, from 1936 to 1945. What purpose do these letters play in the re-imagining of Eileen’s life, and the crafting of Wifedom?
5. It was Eileen’s friend Lydia Jackson who inadvertently brought Eileen and Eric Blair together, by inviting Eileen to accompany her to a party hosted by Orwell’s flatmate. In remembering Eileen, Lydia comments that ‘Writing was her love, I think.’ Do you agree?
6. George Orwell has always been one of Funder’s literary heroes, and she describes how she came to writing this book by rediscovering the joy of his work and questioning the conditions of his production. As the story of Eileen and her marriage to Orwell emerges, Funder finds herself questioning the man behind the art she loves. How does she reconcile the creator with his work?
7. In Wifedom Funder reveals more of herself – writer, woman, wife, mother – than in any of her previous books. Her candour allows the comparison of a woman, a writer and a wife of the early part of the twentieth century with a woman, a writer and a wife of today. We believe ourselves to be more enlightened, more woke to gender equality. But how much has really changed?
8. Funder shares that she writes, as Orwell put it, because ‘there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention’, and in her own writing she draws on a number of Orwellian concepts such as doublethink. Discuss.
9. Early married life for the Orwells in their cottage in Wallington was a period marked by much hardship – and yet among the most productive and creatively-rewarding years for Orwell. How do the sexual politics of the creative life work?
10. Like his hero Hemmingway, Orwell is revered, in part, for having fought the fascists in Spain, as chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Yet despite her apparent absence in her husband’s text, Funder reveals that Eileen was there too – at the heart of the operation. How is she effaced in Orwell’s work?
11. Orwell and Eileen flee England for Morocco in a bid to improve Orwell’s health. By his own account he does something there which several of the biographers find so uncomfortable that they try to doubt it, or hide it in a footnote. What does Funder do with Orwell’s account?
12. As was the case for so many women, the Second World War opened employment opportunities for Eileen. Eileen worked at the Ministry of Censorship, in Senate House, the place Orwell took as his model for the Ministry of Truth in Nineteen Eighty-Four. How might her work there have informed Orwell’s understanding of government censorship?
13. Later, Eileen meets Lettice Cooper through her work at the Ministry of Food during London’s Blitz. What does their friendship mean to Eileen?
14. Motherhood is an undercurrent in Wifedom in more ways than one. For Eileen it is a longtime yearning, eventually realised in the adoption of a son, Richard. And motherhood provides for some of Funder’s most exposing, connective writing in this book. Discuss.
15. Eileen’s death is horrific, premature, lonely and avoidable. What does the loss of Eileen represent for Orwell – and how is it reflected in his work?
16. In bringing visibility to the life and influence of Eileen O’Shaughnessy, Funder offers an intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the twentieth century. How did the Orwell’s marriage defy convention? What was it that kept the couple together?
17. Norah’s letters to Eileen have never been found, yet Funder gives Norah voice in the book’s final chapter. Discuss the book’s ending.
18. Anna Funder’s literary career was ignited by Stasiland, a work of nonfiction that exposes the Stasi, and followed by her novel All That I Am, which lays bare Nazism. Both works look at systems of oppression from the point of view of people who have the insight and the courage to resist them, often women. In Wifedom, Funder takes on patriarchy itself. Discuss.

A Gentleman’s Gentleman Book Club Kit

From the acclaimed author of Chef’s Kiss, a USA Today bestselling trans Regency romance that’s both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic.

“A Gentleman’s Gentleman is a thoroughly charming confection of a romance. If you’re looking for a tender, gentle slow burn, this is the book for you.” —Cat Sebastian, author of We Could Be So Good

The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a “man of unusual make” and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher’s pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father’s will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family’s fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn’t attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.

Enter James Harding, Christopher’s new, distractingly handsome—if rigidly traditional—valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher’s impending nuptials—and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman’s Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

Check out the book club kit featuring a Q&A with author TJ Alexander, book discussion questions, and playlist below!

As the days grow shorter and the nights colder, there’s nothing quite like curling up with a good book to keep you company. This winter, we invite you to dive into a selection of captivating reads that will transport you to different worlds, stir your emotions, and capture your mind from page to page. So, grab a blanket, heat up the kettle or coffee, and settle in with one of these fantastic reads.

Celebrating and Protecting the Right to Read with Toni Morrison

Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison has profoundly shaped American literature with her powerful narratives that explore African American life and heritage. Her works often tackle complex themes such as identity, race, and the historical legacy of slavery and like other books featuring these topics, her works have consistently faced bans and challenges.  

As we approach her birthday on February 18, we can think of no better time to shine a spotlight on two of Morrison’s seminal works that have faced challenges and censorship:  Beloved  and  The Bluest Eye.  

We invite you to discover more about these two monumental titles through their book resumes, containing reviews from professional trade review journals as well as links to resources and relevant media, to support your efforts to defend books from censorship in your area. 

The Bluest Eye (1970) 

Morrison’s first novel The Bluest Eye, is a poignant story about Pecola Breedlove, an eleven-year-old African American girl in 1940s Ohio who yearns for blue eyes and blonde hair, believing they will make her beautiful and loved. Both widely acclaimed and challenged, this novel tackles issues of racial self-loathing, Eurocentric beauty standards, and the devastating effects of internalized racism.  

Why It’s Banned/Challenged: The Bluest Eye is among the most widely banned books, historically challenged for alleged “sexually explicit material”, graphic content and depictions of racism.  

Check out the Book Resume for The Bluest Eye. Follow along at @bannedbooksbookclub as we read The Bluest Eye together, culminating in a live book discussion on February 18^th.  

Beloved (1987) 

Beloved  is perhaps Morrison’s most acclaimed work. Set after the American Civil War and inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner, Beloved tells the haunting story of Sethe, an escaped slave who chooses to kill her child rather than see her returned to slavery and is haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a profound exploration of the trauma of slavery and the enduring scars it leaves on individuals and communities.  

Why It’s Banned/Challenged:  Beloved has been challenged for its depictions of violence, sexual content, and themes of slavery.  

Check out the Book Resume for Beloved and dive even deeper with our Reading Group Guide. 

Watch Toni Morrison defend the right of children to read and the importance of literature that challenges norms and provokes thought. “Taken from the 1982 event An Evening of Forbidden Books, this selection displays the admirable quality of an artist and activist unwilling to compromise when censors—in whatever form—threaten to deny the creative spirit access to literature and literacy.” 

Reading Group Center: Can you tell us a little bit about the real-life individuals or historical circumstances that helped shape The Mesmerist?

Caroline Woods: I started out wanting to write about progressive women in the American Midwest during the Gilded Age. That era has such a reputation for selfishness, for lavish waste while so many others were suffering, but not all “society” women were behaving that way. There were women, like Jane Addams in Chicago, who were actively trying to combat inequality. Quickly my research led me to the Bethany Home in Minneapolis, which was a home for unwed mothers run by some of the richest women in town. Their compassion for “fallen” women, many of whom were sex workers, seemed far ahead of its time. The home was run by seven board members; I settled on Abby Mendenhall to serve as one of my point-of-view characters in The Mesmerist. A Quaker, she had a refreshing informality (as revealed in her diaries)—she seemed just as at home with a brothel madam as she did with the mayor.

So now I’d found my setting, and one of my main characters, but where was the conflict? That was where a sensational murder, one of the biggest true crime stories of the 19^th century, came in.  

RGC: In your opinion, what is the appeal of an unreliable narrator?

CW: I love unreliable narrators because they add another layer of mystery. While the reader is trying to anticipate what’s next in the plot, they also must decode the narrator’s biases and blind spots and compare this to the other characters’ versions of events. I think this works especially well in a book with multiple points of view; you get these rewarding reveals as each character fills in a bit of the puzzle.

I also think unreliable narrators can, paradoxically, get closer to a truthful representation of reality. We all have our own versions of events, of ourselves, of others; memory is slippery, facts are malleable. I might always be the hero of my own story, but I guarantee I’ve been the villain in someone else’s. 

RGC: Have you always been interested in true crime? What intrigued you about the real-life murder at the heart of The Mesmerist?

CW: I have always been drawn to true crime. I watched way too many episodes of Unsolved Mysteries as a child. When I read about this one, I just couldn’t believe the victim—who by all accounts was a savvy, independent, and sharp businesswoman—fell for this man’s clumsy scheme. Was he really that handsome and charming? Or did he actually have irresistible mesmeric powers, as his hitman later claimed? The crime was so dramatic, and so emblematic of its spiritualist era; the murder happened the same year the novel Trilby made Svengali a household name.

RGC: Is there a character in the book that you identify with most?

CW: Both Faith and May hold special places in my heart. I modeled Faith’s background after my Hungarian great-grandmother’s, whose father was killed in his twenties in a Pennsylvania coal mine. After that, her life was very precarious. The community married her mother off quickly, to a much older widower from Austria, to neutralize the threat of a young widow.

Still, of the three characters, I might identify with Abby Mendenhall the most, despite our age difference. She’s sixty-three, I’m forty-one, but I’m old enough to have grown a little weary, as Abby has, as I look out at the world and all its unfairness and wonder if my contributions can make a difference. One of the book’s themes is the frustrating limits of progressivism in the face of systemic injustice. Abby works within the bounds of proper society and worries she can’t do enough. Faith takes matters into her own hands. I suppose I strive to be a little more like Faith. 

RGC: Which books or authors have most inspired your writing?

CW: While I’m writing, I try to read novels that were written in the same period the work is set. (As opposed to historical fiction by a contemporary author. For this book, my best fictional resource was The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The book provided a wealth of knowledge in terms of patterns of speech, dress, food, and customs, but beyond that, it’s a remarkably feminist text for the 1890s. Studying the way Chopin wrote about forbidden lust and longing, and sexual frustration in a buttoned-up society, really helped me to create May’s character.

RGC: This is your third novel. How has your writing process changed since you wrote Fraulein M. and The Lunar Housewife?

CW: I always begin with a loose outline, with the first third of the book well-defined and the ending murkier. As I write and do research, plot ideas come to me in sudden bursts, and I stitch those into the fabric of the book.

When I wrote Fraulein M., I didn’t have children yet, but I did have a full -time job. It took me about five years. I would write in huge chunks, once or twice a week. Now I can see that the work would grow cold in between, and that by the end of those marathon sessions I would start to fatigue and produce words I’d just end up deleting later.

The Lunar Housewife was written during the early days of the pandemic. I already had two little kids and was home with them all day long. I knew I wanted to write another book, but I had to become more disciplined: I decided to write 1,300 words every night, after they were in bed. Ernest Hemingway is a character in Lunar, and I decided to follow his advice: set your daily count, don’t get up until it’s done, and stop right there, while it’s still good. That way, when you sit down the following day at the same time, you’ll know right where to pick up. I couldn’t believe how well this worked. I had a first draft I was excited about in three months.

My process is still evolving. When I wrote The Mesmerist, I couldn’t do it at night anymore. My kids go to bed later now. But they were back in school, and older, so the school hours were longer. And I had the great fortune of working alongside my editor this time. I wrote a third of the book at a time, and then she would read, and we’d workshop what I’d written together and talk about what was next. She brought fresh ideas to the table and helped me see angles of the story I hadn’t considered. Working with an editor is such a luxury and a joy—something I think most writers will understand, since we spend so much of our early careers working in solitude.

RGC: If you could ask reading groups one question about The Mesmerist, what would it be?

CW: I always like to ask readers to imagine what comes next. What awaits May and the other women in Wyoming? How about Faith, and her relationships with Abby and Charlotte? And what’s she going to do about Johnny Lundberg? Where do you see all these characters a mere twenty years later, at the start of World War I? So much would have changed by then, and May and Faith would only be about forty. I’m sorry, I think that’s more than one question, can’t help myself!

Before hypnotism, there was Mesmerism. And in 1894 Minneapolis, in the wake of a national financial crisis, spiritualism of every stripe is all the rage, and women are dying under mysterious circumstances. But until a new guest lands at the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers, refusing to speak or explain her arrival, the sordid stories of unexplained deaths seem unconnected. Faith’s reticence is quickly interpreted as malevolence, setting the house abuzz with whispers of dark magic.

Abby, a staunch Quaker, lifelong supporter of progressive causes, and the Bethany Home’s treasurer, thinks the rumors of mystical powers swirling around Faith are nonsense, but she recognizes the danger of a good story. Unwilling to allow the Home’s important mission to be clouded by scandal, Abby tasks Faith’s roommate, May, with tracing Faith’s path to the Bethany Home.

May is desperate to end her year at Bethany Home engaged and on track to her happily-ever-after—even if her prince charming is Hal, a man she’s not sure she can trust. She uncovers a Minneapolis she never expected as she begins digging into Faith’s shadowy background, and her investigation brings her closer to polite society and Hal than she could have dreamed. The more May learns, the more she’s forced to question the motives of everyone around her, including Abby and Faith, and as more women turn up dead, May must reevaluate the future she wants, and which lies she’s willing to tell, for whom.

Rich with tension, suspicion, and sharply observed characters, Caroline Woods reimagines a classic American genre through the eyes of three bold, unforgettable women.

Check out the book club kit, complete with reading guide and complimentary recipe, at the link below!

Award-winning author Kevin Barry is back with his first novel set in America. The Heart in Winter is a savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana, and we have the perfect kit to foster discussion amongst your book clubs.

From the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to Isabel Dalhousie, Alexander McCall Smith is famous for crafting warm and witty series beloved by fans around the world. One of his most charming series, 44 Scotland Street, tells the story of this cozy Scottish neighborhood’s residents, including the star of the show, Bertie, a remarkably precocious boy–just ask his mother.

The latest installment, The Enigma of Garlic is now available, so we thought it would be a good time to brush up on the other 44 Scotland Street books. To make this easier, we’ve created a guide to the full series! Prepare yourself for a few chuckles and cozy reads that will brighten up your day.

From the streets of Montreal and New York to the travels of a group of survivors after a plague to a mysterious world of shipping and Ponzi schemes, Emily St. John Mandel’s novels have taken readers on incredible journeys with unforgettable characters for five novels. Now, with her sixth work, Emily explores the realms of space and time with Sea of Tranquility — all while maintaining the lyrical writing, impeccable plotting, and flawless character development that have made her beloved by readers across the globe.

After you indulge in this irresistible novel, you’re going to want to discuss it with everyone — which is why we are getting you started with a book club kit, perfect for your next get together. Delve into some discussion questions to start the conversation and keep the fun going with a Q&A from the author, a book-inspired playlist, and some suggested tea pairings, curated by the author herself.

To download a PDF of the book club kit, click here or on the image below.

8 p.m. Friday night, Brooklyn, NY: Am finishing the last chapter of Bridget Jones’s Baby by Helen Fielding on my couch in my comfies. Have had a few more drinkies than I probably should have (calories, sulfates, etc.) and am about to queue up the movie version of the book on Netflix. Just heard the ding of the oven, meaning my cheesy potatoes are done. Credits roll. Was feeling sad about ending the book but now decidedly less sad with Colin Firth on the screen. . . .

If this sounds like the Bridget Jones version of your real-life diary entry, then we have some things to discuss with you. Mainly, the differences between the book and the movie. Because there are a lot, and some of them are huge and some of them are tiny. But what it means for big Bridget fans, like us here at the Reading Group Center, is that each is interesting in its own way. What’s true in both the film and the novel is that Bridget Jones is pregnant, and she’s not sure who the father is. She’s still single, clumsy, and lovable. She’s still got her job at the TV show, Shazzer and Tom are still around, and her mum’s still going on and on about babies and men.

And now, for the differences:

Daniel is dead. No, he’s not!

In the book version, Daniel Cleaver is alive and well. So alive and well that he’s a contender for baby daddy, cracking his normal jokes and pulling his normal stunts. In the movie, Daniel Cleaver has died before the film begins, which means there’s a different man in the running for Papa Jones, namely Jack, an American man played by Patrick Dempsey. Both Jack and Daniel are competing with Mark Darcy to be crowned father. Some things (like Mark Darcy) never change.

Bridget loves music festivals. No, she doesn’t!

In the movie, Bridget gets dragged to a Coachella-like music festival, where she falls into bed (or more accurately . . . into a glamping yurt cot) with an American man named Jack. In the book, no music fests are to be found. What is to be found, however, is a fancy dinner with Daniel Cleaver.

Daniel is dead. No, he’s writing a novel!

Playboy Daniel has decided to get serious in the novel version of Bridget Jones’s Baby. He’s writing an extremely boring book–The Poetics of Time–and he goes on and on about its contents over dinner with Bridget. We love reading but would never want to be subjected to his particular brand of literary fiction.

Jack’s the best man! Because Bridget and Mark are married! No, they’re not! Not yet!

In pure movie magic, American dreamboat Jack is the best man at Bridget and Mark’s wedding. In the book, you have to use your imagination because the most we get is a proposal from Mark in the hospital room as they find out that Mark is the father.

10 p.m. Friday night, Brooklyn, NY: Am extremely tuckered out after a night of good book and movie. Should move from couch to bed but can’t. Muster. Energy. Must recycle wine bottle. Must try not to dream only of Daniel, Mark, and Jack for the rest of the week. . . .