On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love
In her first memoir, acclaimed novelist Louise Doughty tells the story of losing her parents and the unexpected discovery she made whilst clearing out the family home. Inside a black suitcase, the last item left in their bungalow before the sale of the house was completed, she stumbled upon a treasure trove of letters that revealed the origins of her parents’ love affair. These letters offered a fascinating glimpse into the daily lives of working-class people in the 1950s and the tight social conventions that almost prevented her parents from staying together and building a life.
On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love is a portrait of grief and loss and family, but most of all, it’s a love story. With peerless clarity, tenderness and wit, Louise Doughty introduces us to two ardent, eloquent, hopeful young people full of spirit and determination, and brings to light the hidden depths of the people she had simply known as mum and dad.
On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love is a portrait of grief and loss and family, but most of all, it’s a love story. With peerless clarity, tenderness and wit, Louise Doughty introduces us to two ardent, eloquent, hopeful young people full of spirit and determination, and brings to light the hidden depths of the people she had simply known as mum and dad.
Reviews
Tender and clear-eyed, Doughty opens the Pandora's box of 1950s England, class, family and loss and forbidden love and - oh god - that great mysterious secret: our parents before us. It will make you laugh and make you cry
Tender, thoughtful, beautifully written, this is a wonderful and gentle memoir about childhood and class, loss and memory - I loved it
Beautiful and oddly thrilling: a heartfelt meditation on something we all know but rarely talk about - the fact that people, even those closest to us, are ultimately unknowable, that our pasts make strangers of us all. I was very moved and stayed up late into the night to finish it
I relished reading this loving, generous and unflinching recollection of the life cycle of a suburban family and the secrets the parents hid from their children. It is quietly elegant and deeply reflective
A mystery, a love letter, a family history, this astonishing memoir is written with compassion and humour, a tribute to two people caught in the conventions of the time and a lesson in forgiveness and understanding. A wonderful book by a great writer