Letter from Rayner Heppenstall to Orwell

Rayner Heppenstall clarifies why he has decided not to visit Jura after sending a telegram informing Orwell of his change of mind. Clearly Avril, Orwell's sister, was not alone in finding Paul Potts difficult to get on with. Heppenstall also congratulates Orwell on his critical success with 'Animal Farm' in the USA.

Orwell finished writing 'Animal Farm' in 1944, but had difficulties finding a publisher as it attacked communism under Stalin and the USSR was at that point a wartime ally of Britain. The novel was eventually published after the war by Fred Warburg in Britain and Harcourt Brace in the USA, where - as Heppenstall points out - it was selected by the 'Book of the Month Club' and sold over 250,000 copies.