Earlier this year, designer and shop owner Eleanor Tattersfield – who runs Marby & Elm, a print workshop and stationery store on Exmouth Market, London – put out a call on Instagram: ‘I’ll send you a postcard, you send me a secret’. What transpired was a feeling of togetherness and community between women from all backgrounds.

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 from Jamie Oliver to Cath Kidston and Grayson Perry.

All human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy home-schooling schedule, and secret abortions. Eleanor’s postcard is featured in a new collection called Lockdown Secrets out now by Pavilion Books

LOCKDOWN SECRETS

ELEANOR TATTERSFIELD

A compelling collection of anonymous postcards sent during lockdown, revealing hilarious, salacious, relatable and sometimes heart-breaking secret confessions.

In the thick of the 2021 coronavirus lockdown, designer and shop owner 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. Eleanor’s project caught media attention from all over the world, including pieces on BBC and Channel 4 News in the UK and 9 News Sydney in Australia.

This beautiful book brings together the best of the postcards Eleanor received, including 100 previously unseen secrets. All human life is here: furtive infidelities, bad behaviour in the local bakery, sneaking off for baths during a busy home-schooling 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.

About the Author

Eleanor Tattersfield is the proprietor of Marby & Elm, a print workshop and stationery store on Exmouth Market, London, where she designs and hand-makes cards, letterheads, calendars, labels and posters. The shop started in her garden shed and grew into a family business, and her products are now stocked in Liberty London. In 2021 she began her hugely successful lockdown secrets postcard project. She lives in London and is available for interview.

Follow Eleanor and Lockdown Secrets on Instagram:

@marbyandelm | #LOCKDOWNSECRETS