The hedgehog and the fox poll highest as ‘the nation’s top animal’
Karen R. Jones’s surprising choice of ten creatures to represent Britain makes for a truly wonderful book – erudite and fun
Is it wrong to try to ‘cure’ autism?
Do autistic individuals not feel empathy? What is the right treatment for an autistic child? These are just some of the questions discussed in Virginia Bovell’s passionate, informative memoir
Don’t bribe your dog with treats
‘Do NOT look Lulu in the eye. Keep your voice low and soft and ignore her barking. Do NOT make…
Longing for oblivion: The Warm Hands of Ghosts, by Katherine Arden, reviewed
Arden’s novel spares us no details of trench warfare on the Western Front and the severely traumatised men dreaming of escape into amnesia
Where’s Lark?
The missing dog and the animal psychic
The habits of holy pilgrimage
“Will someone steal my coat?” “No, you’re on a holy pilgrimage,” my son’s Irish carer-companion Rosemarie reassured him. We were…
The ladies of Lourdes
What I learnt on a pilgrimage
A nasty piece of work
Moving among the rich of Long Island, an upmarket prostitute grows increasingly desperate as her many misdemeanours are exposed
Perturbed spirit
Long Shadows, a powerful novel set mainly in the American civil war, is very unlike Gone with the Wind. The…
End of the affair
When did mistresses forget the art of secrecy?
Fight club
When book groups turn nasty
An open or shut case?
Writers of memoirs are often praised for their honesty — but how do we know? I found I did believe…
A quick fix
How Boris and Carrie can bring Dilyn to heel
Cold and inhospitable
Like this author, I was happily snowbound at a beloved grandparent’s house during the big freeze that began on Boxing…
Nothing routine
Autism and lockdown are a challenging mix
Wisdom of the ages: we must keep listening to the elderly
My beloved grandmother died at 90, and my mother at 89, after having Alzheimer’s for 11 years. So I am…
Single women are happier – here’s why
As I get older I find the idea of wanting to be in a couple more and more bizarre. I’m…
Addicts love talking about their addiction – but haven’t we suffered enough?
I have always found the parable of the Prodigal Son sickeningly unfair, and I felt this again while driving a…
I hate fishing — but was hooked by the story of the Yukon’s salmon
‘Help!’ I thought, when I read the Author’s Note. ‘It’s about salmon, and I hate fishing.’ But by the first…
Wham bam, thank you Ma’am
I love Americans’ kindness, generosity and energy but am often thrown by their exaggerated politeness and euphemistic speech. They use…
What Katie didn’t do: how Hopkins was silenced in Lewes
I had an all-day ticket for the Lewes Speakers Festival at the All Saints Centre on Saturday. I was keen…
Dangerous liaisons
Lothario, Don Juan, philanderer, ‘naughty’, ‘plays away’ — all terms for men who have an overwhelming drive to seduce scores…
Neighbours and strangers
Margaret Forster, who died on 8 February, excelled at writing about complex relationships between women. Even old friends, she demonstrated,…
The rarest blend of white and gold
This unusual book is beautifully written, produced and illustrated, but its subject — the small Slender-billed curlew — is strangely…
