Description
Book SynopsisVolume 3 of The Complete Works of George Orwell
No one has ever been as severe as George Orwell himself as to the merits of A Clergyman's Daughter. He didn't want this, his second novel, reprinted and he had, he once said, made a muck of it'. Orwell's disenchantment may in part stem from the way the book was to use his favourite word for this process garbled' during its passage from the typescript to print. Thus A Clergyman's Daughter became for him a deformed child: others also made a muck of it'.
Although it is generally agreed that Orwell did not effectively reconcile the sections of this novel, the development of the narrative was greatly hindered by the effects of censorship. This arose from the publisher's understandable fears at the time that the book as submitted would lead to actions for libel, defamation and obscenity. In consequence, many pages were toned down' (again, Orwell's words), what was specific was made vague and unloca
