Page "George Orwell" Paragraph 57

There were thoughts of going to India to work on the Pioneer, a newspaper in Lucknow, but by March 1938 Orwell's health had deteriorated.

He was admitted to Preston Hall Sanatorium at Aylesford, Kent, a British Legion hospital for ex-servicemen to which his brother-in-law Laurence O ' Shaughnessy was attached.

He was thought initially to be suffering from tuberculosis and stayed in the sanatorium until September.

A stream of visitors came to see him including Common, Heppenstall, Plowman and Cyril Connolly.

Connolly brought with him Stephen Spender, a cause of some embarrassment as Orwell had referred to Spender as a " pansy friend " some time earlier.

Homage to Catalonia was published by Secker & Warburg and was a commercial flop.

In the latter part of his stay at the clinic Orwell was able to go for walks in the countryside and study nature.