Hello, my name's Mariam.
Today's story is set in a dark and scary version of London.
It's called a dystopia, an imagined society where things are very unfair.
In this world, everything is run by an organisation called The Party.
The Party's watchword is control.
They can see everything everyone is doing and will punish anyone who disagrees with them.
The party have even created a new language called News Speak,
which does n't contain any words which could undermine them.
And the party is ruled by a person called Big Brother.
Everywhere you look, there are posters which say, Big Brother is watching you.
Winston Smith lives in this strange version of London.
And works for the government in the Ministry of Truth.
His job is to change historical records whenever they contradict what the party wants people to think.
But watch this space.
Winston isn't sure about Big Brother at all, and thinks the government have too much control over people.
Everywhere Winston goes, he is surrounded by cameras which monitor what he is doing and makes him uneasy.
Throughout the story, he also has nightmares about rats and is terrified of them.
Winston decides to buy a diary and secretly writes down his thoughts.
But disagreeing with a party, even in your head, is illegal.
And London is patrolled by the Thought Police, who punish anyone who thinks for themselves.