Editing George Orwell (section)

===Southwold===

[[File:SouthwoldPier.JPG|thumb|right|[[Southwold Pier]] in [[Southwold]]. Orwell wrote ''[[A Clergyman's Daughter]]'' (1935) in the town, basing the fictional town of Knype Hill partly on Southwold.]]

In December 1929, after nearly two years in Paris, Blair returned to England and went directly to his parents' house in [[Southwold]], a coastal town in [[Suffolk]], which remained his base for the next five years. The family was well established in the town, where his sister Avril ran a tea-house. He became acquainted with many local people, including Brenda Salkeld, the clergyman's daughter who worked as a gym-teacher at [[Saint Felix School|St Felix Girls' School]]. Although Salkeld rejected his offer of marriage, she remained a friend and regular correspondent for many years. He also renewed friendships with older friends, such as Dennis Collings, whose girlfriend Eleanor Jacques was also to play a part in his life.<ref name=Taylor/>

In early 1930 he stayed briefly in [[Bramley, Leeds]], with his sister Marjorie and her husband Humphrey Dakin. Blair was writing reviews for ''Adelphi'' and acting as a private tutor to a disabled child at Southwold. He then became tutor to three young brothers, one of whom, [[Richard Stanley Peters|Richard Peters]], later became a distinguished academic.<ref>R.S. Peters (1974). ''A Boy's View of George Orwell'' Psychology and Ethical Development. Allen & Unwin</ref> <blockquote>His history in these years is marked by dualities and contrasts. There is Blair leading a respectable, outwardly eventless life at his parents' house in Southwold, writing; then in contrast, there is Blair as Burton (the name he used in his down-and-out episodes) in search of experience in the kips and spikes, in the East End, on the road, and in the hop fields of Kent.<ref>Stansky & Abrahams, p. 230 ''The Unknown Orwell''</ref></blockquote> He went painting and bathing on the beach, and there he met Mabel and Francis Fierz, who later influenced his career. Over the next year he visited them in London, often meeting their friend Max Plowman. He also often stayed at the homes of Ruth Pitter and Richard Rees, where he could "change" for his sporadic tramping expeditions. One of his jobs was domestic work at a lodgings for [[half crown (British coin)|half a crown]] (two shillings and sixpence, or one-eighth of a pound) a day.<ref name="autogenerated1996">Stella Judt "I once met George Orwell" in ''I once Met'' 1996</ref>

Blair now contributed regularly to ''Adelphi'', with "[[A Hanging]]" appearing in August 1931. From August to September 1931 his explorations of poverty continued, and, like the protagonist of ''[[A Clergyman's Daughter]]'', he followed the [[East End]] tradition of working in the Kent [[Hops|hop]] fields. He kept a diary about his experiences there. Afterwards, he lodged in the [[Tooley Street#George Orwell|Tooley Street kip]], but could not stand it for long, and with financial help from his parents moved to Windsor Street, where he stayed until Christmas. "Hop Picking", by Eric Blair, appeared in the October 1931 issue of ''[[New Statesman]]'', whose editorial staff included his old friend Cyril Connolly. Mabel Fierz put him in contact with [[Leonard Moore (literary agent)|Leonard Moore]], who became his [[literary agent]] in April 1932.<ref>{{cite book |title=George Orwell: A Life in Letters |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WE4AAAAQBAJ |editor=Davison, Peter |date=2013 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=494|isbn=9780871404626 }}</ref>

At this time [[Jonathan Cape]] rejected ''A Scullion's Diary'', the first version of ''Down and Out''. On the advice of Richard Rees, he offered it to [[Faber & Faber]], but their editorial director, [[T. S. Eliot]], also rejected it. Blair ended the year by deliberately getting himself arrested,<ref name="Arrest">{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1214/041214-orwell-court-record|title=Discovery of 'drunk and incapable' arrest record shows Orwell's 'honesty'|work=ucl.ac.uk|access-date=25 February 2015|date=4 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106070123/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1214/041214-orwell-court-record/|archive-date=6 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> so that he could experience Christmas in prison, but after he was picked up and taken to [[Bethnal Green]] police station in the [[East End of London]] the authorities did not regard his "drunk and disorderly" behaviour as imprisonable, and after two days in a cell he returned home to Southwold.<ref name="Arrest"/>