Julia: Sandra Newman

It’s 1984 and Julia Worthing works as a mechanic fixing the novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One, the third-most populous province of Oceania. Under the rule of the Party and its leader, Big Brother, Julia routinely breaks the law but also collaborates with the regime whenever necessary. Everyone likes Julia. A diligent member of the Junior Anti-Sex League (though she is secretly promiscuous) she knows how to survive in a world of constant surveillance, Newspeak, Doublethink and the threat of the Thought Police. She’s adept at staying alive.
But Julia becomes intrigued by a colleague from the Records Department – a mid-level worker of the Outer Party called Winston Smith. And when one day, finding herself walking towards Winston, she impulsively hands him a note, she comes to realise that she’s losing her grip and can no longer safely navigate her world.
For the millions of readers who have been brought up with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, here, finally, is a provocative, vital and utterly satisfying companion novel.