Originally published 1 January 1974 | ||
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Similar The English People, Some Thoughts on the Co, England Your England, Inside the Whale and Other Ess, Decline of the English Murder | ||
Eric & Us is a 1974 memoir by Jacintha Buddicom recalling her childhood friendship with Eric Blair, the real name of author George Orwell. Buddicom first met Blair when he was eleven and he became very close to her family. Their friendship lasted until Blair became a policeman in Burma and the two lost touch. Blair and Buddicom never saw one another again and did not get in touch until 1949, shortly before Orwell's death from tuberculosis.
Buddicom's memoir, as well as recalling her relationship with Orwell, shows her disappointment in some of the views he took — for instance, she condemned his decision to fight in the Spanish Civil War as interfering in the affairs of another country. She also portrayed him as reserved but happy, in contrast to the bleak picture Orwell presents of his childhood in "Such, Such Were the Joys".
Buddicom's cousin, Dione Venables, added a postscript to the memoir in 2006, suggesting that the real reason for the ending of Blair and Buddicom's friendship was the possibility that Blair, in an attempt to further their relationship, may have tried to rape Buddicom.