You are invited to a lunchtime reading group to discuss the works of George Orwell.

The Orwell Reading Group meets every month to discuss a book by Orwell. On January 23rd, we will be talking about A Clergyman’s Daughter, his 1935 novel about the amnesiac offspring of an overbearing minister who finds herself among the vagrants and vagabonds of London.

Orwell described this novel as “tripe”, apart from the first part of chapter three “which I am pleased with”. Modern readers may appreciate its social reality, and recognise the influence of James Joyce. The Orwell Society writes: “The structural experimentalism creaks from time to time… but it’s undeniable that in the novel we’re seeing a good writer flexing his muscles in order to find out how he can become a truly great writer.”

Anthony Burgess claimed to have met Orwell in a pub during the Second World War. Whether or not they actually met, the collection of books at the Burgess Foundation contains a complete set of Orwell’s novels and non-fiction works. The two writers have much in common: their genesis as colonial novelists; their status as English outsiders; their involvement in literary journalism; and their lasting reputation as inventors of nightmarish fictional futures.

This informal reading group is free and everyone is welcome. The discussion will last an hour, and you are welcome to join the staff of the Burgess Foundation for tea and biscuits afterwards.

If you would like to attend, please email events@anthonyburgess.org or register on Eventbrite.