Book of the week: Perversion of Justice by Julie K. Brown
Brown’s account of Jeffrey Epstein’s undoing is a ‘searing indictment of a society in thrall to money and power’

Several years after her marriage collapsed, Anne Theroux saw her ex-husband being interviewed on television. Writers, Paul Theroux declared, need to marry “a specific type of woman – protective and self-sacrificing types… a secretary, mother, guardian of the gate”. In response, she sent him a note: “If you had given me the job description in advance, I wouldn’t have applied.”
The Year of the End, her memoir of her disintegrating marriage, is “wise and vivid”, said Fiona Sturges in The i Paper. From the moment the couple met in Uganda in 1967, it was clear that Paul’s career was to take precedence: he insisted that Anne give up her cherished teaching job, and though she subsequently worked as a BBC radio presenter, she was often left to cope with their young sons (Louis and Marcel) while he travelled the world, having frequent affairs.
The book is based on her diaries from 1990, when the two separated, and the entries find her pinballing between longing and fury. However, retribution isn’t the point of this book: it’s a “funny and self-deprecating” portrait of a woman “learning how to be alone”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Revenge it may not be, said Rachel Cooke in The Observer, but it is a last word of sorts. It’s clear why the author was dazzled by her dashing young husband, but she also sees him very clearly – “his amateur dramatics, his sentimentality, his hypocrisy”. Professional travellers, she notes, tend to be charming and adventurous, but also distant and brutal.
Some of the diary entries are a bit Pooterish, but the overall tone is “dignified and moving”. Indeed, said Paul Perry in The Irish Independent: though deception and betrayal are the watchwords of this “candid” memoir, Anne Theroux – who went on to become a relationship therapist – shows great restraint. “Good for her, one thinks.”
Icon Books 256pp £12.99; The Week Bookshop £9.99
The Week Bookshop
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Nvidia: unstoppable force, or powering down?
Talking Point Sales of firm's AI-powering chips have surged above market expectations –but China is the elephant in the room
-
5 hard-working cartoons about Labor Day celebrations
Cartoons Artists take on creation of AI, spelling mistakes, and more
-
Crossword: September 7, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Rigatoni with 'no-vodka sauce' recipe
The Week Recommends Comfort food meets a clever alcohol-free twist on a classic
-
6 blooming homes for gardeners
Feature Featuring a greenhouse in Illinois and 13 raised garden beds in New Mexico
-
The Roses: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star in black comedy reboot
The Week Recommends 'Acidly enjoyable' remake of the 1980s classic features a warring couple and toxic love
-
Film reviews: The Roses, Splitsville, and Twinless
Feature A happy union devolves into domestic warfare, a couple's open marriage reaps chaos, and an unlikely friendship takes surprising turns
-
Music reviews: Laufey, Deftones, and Earl Sweatshirt
Feature "A Matter of Time," "Private Music," and "Live Laugh Love"
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogs
The Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
-
Millet: Life on the Land – an 'absorbing' exhibition
The Week Recommends Free exhibition at the National Gallery showcases the French artist's moving paintings of rural life
-
Thomasina Miers picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The food writer shares works by Arundhati Roy, Claire Keegan and Charles Dickens