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.