The Priest's Daughter

Many are accustomed to perceiving Orwell only through the lens of dystopian genre, but the novel "The Priest's Daughter" will introduce you to another Orwell — the master of psychological realism. England, the era of the Great Depression. Dorothy is... the daughter of Reverend Charles Hayre, the rector of St. Athelstans Church in Suffolk. She is a skilled housekeeper, performs good deeds, tries to cultivate only good thoughts within herself, and when bad thoughts arise, she pricks her hand with a pin. Even when she diligently sews costumes for the school play, she is haunted by thoughts of the poverty that surrounds her and the debts she cannot afford to pay. And suddenly, she finds herself in London. She is wearing silk stockings, has money in her pocket, and cannot remember her name... This is a novel about a girl who lost her memory due to an accident; she reconsiders questions of faith and identity in a world of unemployment and hunger.