New book says Orwell assaulted young woman

LONDON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A new book claims that British novelist George Orwell sexually assaulted a young woman he knew from childhood.

The Sunday Times of London reported that Jacintha Buddicom was 20 at the time of the alleged assault. Buddicom was a close friend of the author and is said to have inspired many of Orwell's most famous characters, including Julia in 1984.

Although the author never spoke of the alleged assault, Buddicom said the episode left her with bruises and a torn skirt.

After the incident, Orwell, whose original name was Eric Blair, cut off relations with the Buddicom family until 1949, when Jacintha wrote to him as he was dying of tuberculosis.

The Times reported that the book, "Eric & Us -- Postscript," does not entirely dismantle Orwell's public image as a socialist with high moral standards. The book is partly a reprinting of Buddicom's memoir of her childhood with Orwell, with a postscript by Dione Venables, her cousin, on the basis of long conversations with Buddicom, who died in 1993.