Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Arundel, Honor - Mrs. J. M. Murphy

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MRS. J. M. MURPHY

There have been several attempts to tackle the problem of the unmarried mother but all have paled in comparison with such books as The L-Shaped Room and The Millstone. At last Honor Arundel has given us a strong story stripped of all sentimentality and 'do-gooders' [with The Longest Weekend]. In fact, in her portrayal of the girl's parents, liberal-minded schoolteachers who bravely accept the baby into their family, she is really cruelly cutting them down to size….

[There] is no 'angelic choir' ending, but a perfectly understandable development of plot. Every character in the book is 'real' and this, plus the author's clarity and simplicity of style is the key to its success.

Mrs. J. M. Murphy, "Fiction: 'The Longest Weekend'," in Children's Book News (copyright © 1970 by Children's Book Centre Ltd.), Vol. 5, No. 1, January-February, 1970, p. 25.

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1. Introduction
2. Robert Bell
3. Polly Goodwin
4. S. L. Blanford
5. Linda Crowe
6. Zena Sutherland
7. Mrs. J. M. Murphy
8. Margery Fisher
9. Mrs. J. Aldridge
10. Margery Fisher
11. Julia G. Russell
12. Judith Aldridge
13. John W. Conner
14. Nicholas Tucker
15. John W. Conner
16. Margery Fisher
17. Celia Boyd
18. Judith Aldridge
19. Vivienne Furlong
20. J. Russell
21. John Rowe Townsend
22. Eleanore Braun Luckey
23. Copyright