A Memoir In 65 Postcards & The Recovery Diaries

by Eleanor Anstruther

Inspired by Julia Cameron’s classic The Artist’s Way, Eleanor set out on a project to write every morning, and crucially, to publish it on Substack that same morning; a commitment to press the button as soon as she’d finished, and before she had time to regret it. She set she’d do no forward planning, she’d tell whatever story came to mind, the writing would take no longer than an hour, the reading of it, no longer than a minute. What came was A Memoir In 65 Postcards, the personal story that had been knocking about her system for well over twenty years. Questions were answered, and a puzzle was put together. Using the same rules of engagement, its follow up, The Recovery Diaries, became a deeper exploration of what emerged and how she is now.

With humour and honesty, from a pagan commune to sobriety, this collection of essays and stories form a unique exploration of wealth, survival, the questions that haunt us, and what makes us human. It’s you and me. It’s where our worlds collide.

384 pages, Paperback

Published June 28, 2024

About the author

Eleanor Anstruther was born in London, educated at Westminster School and studied History of Art at Manchester University where she was distracted from finishing her degree by a trip to India. She was lost and found for the next twelve years, starting a commune and travelling the world before finally settling down to write her acclaimed debut novel, A Perfect Explanation, (Salt Books) which was long listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the 2019 Not The Booker Prize. Her latest novel, In Judgement of Others, (Troubador) is available now. Founder of The Literary Obsessive, she’s grown a significant following on Substack where she champions indie lit fiction, serializes her work before taking it to print, and runs the popular interview series, 8 Questions.

Reviews

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has real immediacy and a driving energy that I really enjoyed. Anstruther decided to get up every morning and write a short episode from her life, publishing it through Substack as soon as she had finished without editing or second guessing herself. We veer back and forwards through time depending on her mood and what has happened to her in the twenty four hours between one 'postcard' and the next. The writing is frank and sometimes difficult to read because of that, but always pulling you forward, despite its non linear execution.

This restlessness is beautifully suited to the peripatetic hurly burly of her life and the resulting tensions in the need to run away from things but also to face them. This teeter totter and the not knowing which way we or she will go is as addictive as many of the things she talks about. This is smart, raw, writing with real heart.

[Deirdre Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read selections from this book a year ago that I still think of today. Eleanor Anstruther's writing is so vivid and precise that reading it, I felt not only like I was watching a movie, but that it had happened to me. Descriptions of the dark quiet dawn in her kitchen, or of watching a woman jog alone along the side of the road take on a depth and nuance when you remember that these are her daily observations made during and after a specific period in her life. Read this book.

[Stella Marchione · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will bowl you over. Near-poetry in its efficiency of language.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating memoir. A life very different to mine, but that's the joy of reading memoirs. There was also a lot to relate to. Perhaps all our lives are not so very different in the end... the observations on the writing life and parenting are fabulous and recognisable. Great read.