When Esther miscarries, the grief and the worry about dashing Annie’s longing for a sister are complicated by the knowledge of her husband’s betrayal. Esther seeks answers and solace, turning to books, friends and a therapist but knows that she cannot forgive him until Ravi says he’s sorry, recording her struggles in what will become a book to be published five years after her loss.
That sounds quite straightforward but as Esther explains, she sometimes moves events to fit her own chronology having lost the sense of linear time. She delivers her story in a series of letters – most addressed to the child she miscarried, some to the women she feels invaded her life and her body thanks to Ravi’s infidelity, a few to herself and others, and one or two to Ravi – peppered with short observations. It’s an ambitious structure for a debut and I’m not entirely sure it works but it does fit the disordered, inward-looking mind of someone struggling with emotional turmoil. Miscarriage is a difficult subject and there are some visceral scenes which may well make very tough reading for some. I was in two minds about reading this one, and I still am, but I’ll be interested to see what Robinson does next.

And Notre Dame is Burning by Miriam Robinson captures a woman grieving for the loss of a baby and for her relationship with her husband and digging into her experiences of motherhood, of time, of being betrayed. I think readers of authors such as Rachel Cusk and Cat Bohannon would appreciate this.