Speed reading: Markie Robson-Scott loves three debut novels
In A Perfect Explanation (Salt, £12.99; Tablet price £11.69), Eleanor Anstruther fictionalises her own family history with exceptional skill.
In A Perfect Explanation (Salt, £12.99; Tablet price £11.69), Eleanor Anstruther fictionalises her own family history with exceptional skill. In 1924, her aristocratic grandmother, Enid Campbell, left her husband and small children for two years. When she returns, she brings chaos and misunderstanding. But Anstruther finds the disturbed woman beneath the “brute”, and creates a wonderful portrait of a mother who gave up her children because, in an era when post-natal depression wasn’t understood, she felt too evil to hold on to them.
Get Instant Access
Continue Reading
Register for free to read this article in full
Subscribe for unlimited access
From just £37.50 quarterly
Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.
Already a subscriber? Login
Help us keep The Tablet’s voice independent, clear and far-reaching.
Founded in 1840, The Tablet is the leading independent English-language Catholic weekly, celebrated for great writing, astute analysis, brilliant arts and books reviews and trustworthy reporting from correspondents in Britain, Ireland, Rome and across the world.
Independent, high-quality journalism is at the heart of what we do. The Tablet does not have deep pockets and we are not funded by rich donors. If you appreciate our work please consider supporting The Tablet’s Development Fund. It only takes a moment and you can cancel at any time.
- Support with £5 per month
- Support with £10 per month
- Support with other amount.
MOST READ ARTICLES
-
1
The Tablet poem
-
2
Battling confession fatigue
-
3
A craving for beauty
-
4
Massachusetts abuse report finds over 1,000 victims in three dioceses
-
5
Bishops demand security investment to promote ‘common good’ in Nigeria
-
6
Woman religious becomes first female president of Pontifical Mission Societies
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
