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Sandra Newman's novel Julia is based on George Orwell's classic work of fiction 1984, retold from the point of view of the protagonist's lover. Who, though, was George Orwell, and how did 1984 come to be?
Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903, in Bengal, India. His father, Richard, was employed in the India Civil Service as a customs official in the Opium Department. His mother, Ida, moved to England in 1904 with Eric and his older sister, Marjorie, in tow, settling in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He attended school locally until the age of eight, when he was sent to a private prep school in Sussex. After graduation, he attended Wellington for one term before studying at Eton for the rest of his education. He then traveled to Asia and worked in Burma (Myanmar) as a police officer before returning to England in 1928 to concentrate on his fledgling writing career. It was then that he started publishing under the pen name "George Orwell," producing ...
