Fallout - by Eleanor Anstruther (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Perfect for fans of Holly Bourne, Meg Mason, Daisy Buchanan, and Emma Cline, Fallout is a sharp, darkly funny coming-of-age about a teenage girl who walks away from home and into a world that will change her forever.

Warm, sharp, and quietly explosive--Fallout is the kind of novel readers pass to their friends, their sisters, and their book clubs, then can't stop talking about long after the final page.

Bridget is fifteen and already tired of being told how the world works. Her father is building a fallout shelter in the garden. Her mother is holding the family together with routines and silence. And at school, no one is saying anything that feels true. So when Bridget hears about the women camped outside a military base at Greenham Common--protesting nuclear missiles, refusing to leave, she goes. At first, it's just curiosity.

Then it's something else.

Because Greenham isn't what she expected. It's chaotic, alive, and full of women who don't ask permission. They argue, organise, clash, and care for each other in ways Bridget has never seen before. Here, the rules feel different. Looser. Sharper.

And the longer she stays, the harder it is to imagine going home.

But nothing at Greenham is simple. Beneath the solidarity, tensions simmer. Voices collide. Loyalties shift. And as Bridget is pulled deeper into this volatile, exhilarating world, she begins to see cracks--not just in the movement, but in everything she thought she understood about family, power, and herself.

Because once you start asking questions, you can't always live with the answers.

Review Quotes

"...Fizzing with detail, energy, and purpose."--Viv Groskop, Acclaimed author of How to Own the Room.

"Astute, funny, and informed by a wealth of human experience..."--Patrick Gale

"A quiet but powerful stand against tyranny."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Eleanor Anstruther is a distinctive voice in contemporary literature who writes with intelligence, dry wit, and emotional precision. Born in London, she was educated at Westminster School before taking up the study of History of Art at Manchester University--only to be delightfully waylaid by a life-altering trip to India. She spent the next twelve years tracing her own path: building a commune, erecting a stone circle, and wandering across Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Americas--before finally anchoring herself in the life she was meant to write.

Her debut novel, A Perfect Explanation (Salt Books), received notable acclaim, spending time on the longlists for both the Desmond Elliott Prize and the 2019 Not the Booker Prize. Since then, Eleanor has built a fervent following via The Literary Obsessive on Substack, where she serializes novels ahead of print, champions independent literary voices, and hosts the popular "8 Questions" interview series.

Now a literary trailblazer, Eleanor lives on a tranquil farm in Surrey with her twin boys, continuing to write novels that shimmer with wit, empathy, and a clear-eyed view of life's bewildering contradictions.