The Rejection from Horizon

Briony receives a rejection letter from Cyril Connolly, the editor of Horizon magazine, for her novella Two Figures by a Fountain. The letter is surprisingly detailed and encouraging, praising her prose but criticizing the story's lack of narrative drive. Connolly suggests that she needs 'the backbone of a story.' The rejection is a blow to Briony's literary ambitions, but it also forces her to confront the evasions in her writing. She realizes that her novella, which describes the fountain scene from multiple perspectives, is a cowardly attempt to avoid the truth of what she did. The letter is a catalyst for her decision to confess.