"By turns confessional, funny and moving, this anthology of secrets collected during lockdown is an endlessly entertaining and fascinating document of those strange, strange times."
Shifting from shocking confessions, to relatable emotions and experiences, Eleanor Tattersfield’s Lockdown Secrets is an ingenious concept of a book that will make an entertaining and elegant gift. It all began back in the dark days of a long COVID lockdown, when designer Eleanor Tattersfield heard a podcast about a 1980s answering machine confession line, leading her to “wonder what might happen if people had a similar opportunity at this strangest of times to document their own lockdown confessions.” Somewhat fortuitously, later that day, Eleanor found a box of unused postcards from the 1930s - “It felt like fate. I rushed upstairs, set up the type LOCKDOWN SECRETS and the shop’s address, and printed away.”
Following an Instagram shout-out - “I'll send you a postcard, you send me a secret” - replies flooded in, a selection of which are reproduced in this gorgeous book. Many of the cards are resplendent with illustrations, elaborate typography, clever collages, and intriguing handwriting, and all of them capture the shared experience of lockdown in all its complex strangeness. Indeed, the author noted a number of recurring themes - “food fetishes, masturbation, loneliness, breaking the rules, sex, love and, surprisingly, the love of lockdown.”
Honest and enlightening, what an extraordinarily unique document of such extraordinary times this book is.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
A compelling collection of anonymous postcards sent during lockdown, revealing hilarious, salacious, relatable and sometimes heartbreaking secret confessions.
In the thick of the 2021 coronavirus lockdown, designer and shopowner Eleanor Tattersfield put out a call on Instagram: 'I'll send you a postcard, you send me a secret'. Lockdown Secrets is an astonishing record of what happened next.
Postcards poured in, some beautifully decorated, some simply handwritten, but each one anonymously sharing a very personal confession. They came from people of all ages and all walks of life, including some celebrities. Prominent themes began to emerge: relationships, sex, masturbation, food, rebellion, loneliness and, surprisingly, a lot of love for lockdown itself.
This beautiful book brings together the best of the postcards Eleanor received, and all human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy homeschooling schedule, rediscovered marital bliss, and, occasionally, poignant moments of sadness and despair.
We've all been through the lockdown experience, and every reader will find something to relate to in this fascinating collection, a perfect snapshot of an extraordinary time.
Lockdown Secrets features in the following genres: Humour, Gift Books, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Humour collections and anthologies, Diaries, letters and journals, Stationery and miscellaneous items, Biographies & Autobiographies, Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Non-Fiction Books of the Month, Recommendations
Lockdown Secrets is available in Hardback, Ebook
Lockdown Secrets was written by Eleanor Tattersfield and published by Batsford Ltd an imprint of Pavilion Books
Lockdown Secrets has 192 pages
£11.69
