A Scandalous Man, By Gavin Esler

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.

Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.

Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond

Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

From his foreign news journalism alone, I expected far better from Esler than this perfunctory political father-versus-son tale. It's spring 2005, and translator Harry Burnett's estranged father has just made what appears to be a suicide attempt. Why they have become estranged is drawn out through the flashbacks of Robin Burnett's parallel narrative from 1982, when he was in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet until scandal forced him to resign.

Esler has drawn on his own experience when constructing scenes between Burnett senior and diplomats from foreign governments, and as a result those do have an air of authenticity. But his style is flat and clunky throughout. ("It was the day on which Leila Rajar was preparing to telephone Robin Burnett to tell him that she was pregnant. She was also going to tell him that their relationship was over, knowing that it would make him very unhappy.") I also hated the very. Short. Sentences. And the clichés about Margaret Thatcher (feminine but masculine, too, etc, etc).

Click here to purchase the book