11 NOVEMBER 2000, Page 35

In praise of Sonia Orwell

From Mrs Deirdre Levi Sir: As the widow of Cyril Connolly, who knew Orwell from the time they met at boarding-school aged eight, I was glad of Paul Foot's decent and spirited defence of Sonia Orwell (Books, 4 November). If these errors are not changed, they just pass on from one biography to the next. Sonia married Orwell in the hospital where he was to die from tuberculosis, because he was in love with her and was convinced that if only she would marry him he would recover. Sonia was the least mer- cenary person; in fact, almost hectically generous. Any later sadness was not con- nected to Orwell.

Deirdre Levi

Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire