Featured review
Patient 1 by Charlotte Raven review
If you can remember the 90s, you weren’t really there,” writes Charlotte Raven in her memoir, Patient 1: Forgetting and Finding Myself. “I remember so little of it that I must have been more there than practically anyone, Liam Gallagher excepted.” For those…
Sophie and the Sibil - George Eliot's later life reimagined
Sophie and the Sibil - George Eliot's later life reimagined
A mix of fact and fiction makes for a clever comedy of Victorian manners, but it engages the…
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson - her finest work
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson - her finest work
The genre-defying author follows Life After Life with a bold, playful and engrossing companion piece…
Holly Walsh: 'Britain's the best place in the world to do comedy'
Holly Walsh: 'Britain's the best place in the world to do comedy'
The teenage nerd-turned-successful comedian on her new standup show, being terminally uncool and having a vicar for a…
The Kindness - Polly Samson's sensuous tale of family tragedy
The Kindness - Polly Samson's sensuous tale of family tragedy
This assured second novel begins as a meditation on love and loss then turns into a complex, thrilling…
Patrick Gale: 'There was a mythology about
Patrick Gale: 'There was a mythology about
The novelist on his new book’s debt to his great-grandfather and life as a ‘cattle boy’ on his…
I hope dancing Dermot O'Leary felt the love amid the pain
I hope dancing Dermot O'Leary felt the love amid the pain
The TV presenter’s 24-hour ‘danceathon’ for Comic Relief briefly united the nation…
Kim Noble: You're Not Alone - a dark and often troubling performance
Kim Noble: You're Not Alone - a dark and often troubling performance
Kim Noble’s latest offering explores male loneliness, old age and the bleakness of existence to unsettling, almost embarrassing…
We Are Pirates - madcap sitcom with a dark twist
We Are Pirates - madcap sitcom with a dark twist
Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler steers a pirate ship into uncharted territory in this disturbingly funny novel for…
Vanessa and Her Sister - Bloomsbury reimagined
Vanessa and Her Sister - Bloomsbury reimagined
Priya Parmar does a fine job of inventing Vanessa Bell’s account of life with the volatile Virginia Woolf…
Myleene Klass is right - children's parties are a social minefield
Myleene Klass is right - children's parties are a social minefield
Yes, the school party invite the singer received was rude, but shaming the sender won’t win her daughter…
Colleen McCullough's obituary shows looks aren't everything. Unless you're a woman
Colleen McCullough's obituary shows looks aren't everything. Unless you're a woman
The obituary of The Thornbirds author emphasises yet again that even in 2015 a woman will be judged…
William Nicholson: 'In Hollywood, people push you to produce work you didn't know you had in you'
William Nicholson: 'In Hollywood, people push you to produce work you didn't know you had in you'
The screenwriter and novelist on his love of Emily Dickinson, and the power of great storytelling…
The Offering - the gifted Grace McCleen addresses memory and religion
The Offering - the gifted Grace McCleen addresses memory and religion
A woman is traumatised by a forgotten childhood incident in Grace McCleen’s poetic, often painful third novel…
Rising stars of 2015: comedian Jenny Bede
Rising stars of 2015: comedian Jenny Bede
A switch from musical theatre has paid off for the 31-year-old, who was prompted to make the change…