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As the clocks strike 13 once again, it’s time to venture back to Oceania and experience that dystopia with fresh eyes �� or other eyes. That’s exactly what Sandra Newman does in her subversive new novel, “Julia.��

With the approval of the Orwell estate, it’s a retelling of ��1984�� from the perspective of Winston Smith’s lover. The effect of that single shift is uncanny: The world Julia describes is entirely familiar but subtly altered from the one Winston experiences.

In addition to filling out the tragedy of Julia’s adolescence, Newman introduces several ingenious twists that let the plot proceed largely as expected but with curiously different implications.

Except for one extraordinary scene, everything Newman does takes place within the confines of that grim original story. Somehow, she has stuck her tweezers into Orwell’s bottle and rebuilt the ship pointing the other way.

Many of the characters, the Ministries of Truth and Love, the ever-shrinking dictionary, the constantly rewritten histories, the Two Minutes Hate, the endless war with Eurasia (or is it Eastasia?) and all your favorite horrors from ��1984�� are here.


But while “Julia�� depends on Orwell for its architecture, the novel’s ironic tone is Newman’s own. By switching the perspective from Winston, she has effectively expanded the story’s palette.

The realm Newman describes is no more free nor tolerant than the one Orwell made famous, but it’s given considerably more room to. . . .

To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post: