Everyday life
Everyday life in the Eternal City: Roman Stories, by Jhumpa Lahiri, reviewed
Each story circles around events both big and small, such as lunch at a simple trattoria, a birthday party, a summer holiday or the funeral of a friend
A meditation on everyday life: Early Morning Riser, by Katherine Heiny, reviewed
There were many moments in Early Morning Riser that made me laugh out loud in recognition. An episode where the…
Karl Ove Knausgaard describes nothing happening — wonderfully
It is hard to explain the contents of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s vast series My Struggle because not much happens. Or…
Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention
Life is full of little endings. We should pay them more attention
The voice of Big Mother does more for women than any Twitter feminist
Feminism in modern Britain is not for the faint-hearted. Only the smartest, mouthiest girls on the social media scene dare…
Dear Mary: Is there a polite way to ask for the return of a handbag full of cash?
Q. A friend regularly hires a stall at a general neighbourhood market in order to sell surplus second-hand clothes and…
Dear Mary: How can I make my polite English husband interrupt like a German?
Q. My dear English husband has never mastered the knack of timing his interventions in conversation. He hesitates politely, and…
When did it become OK to be boring?
Being boring was once the worst of all social sins. Now it’s practically compulsory
Yes, Britain is a Christian country
I can’t say it was a great surprise to read a letter from a group of well-known authors, academics, comedians…
You can buy happiness. Here’s how…
If you are reading this article online, perhaps you could go to the comments section and let us know what…
Dear Mary: How can I escape the tyranny of teacher presents?
Q. It’s only April and yet I am being emailed by parents who have already taken charge and are drumming…
I don’t want to rate the restaurant. I want to rate the date
Everyone’s a critic, but that doesn’t mean we want to fill in a survey every time we buy a meal
Why working class grandparents are better than middle class ones
When I told a friend that my nine-year-old son was staying with his grandparents for the whole week of the…
Dyslexia is meaningless. But don't worry – so is ADHD
There is a beautiful symmetry to all things, I think, and probably related somehow to the concept of karma. Only…
The battle against the dog police
Feral bureaucrats are banning dogs from places they’ve been walked for generations. But now owners are fighting back
Dear Mary: Is there any way to wriggle out of a phone invitation?
Q. Is there a tactful way to keep one social offer on hold while waiting to see if you have…
The question that Dear Mary refuses to answer
Q. One of my best friends, who knows I don’t have a great social life at university, has a brother…
Penelope Lively’s diary: My old-age MOT
My surgery has been calling in all those over 75 for a special session with their doctor — a sort…
Dear Mary: How do you escape from a stranger's childhood trauma story?
Q. Recently a cousin and I gave a small drinks party in the USA. She had invited a very elegant…
Dear Mary: What do I do now I haven’t sent a thank-you letter?
Q. Over New Year I stayed with a man who combines being a generous and exciting host with a punctilious…
The comedy club theory of dictatorship
The comedy club theory of dictatorship
Forgive me, Father
What Catholics really talk about in the confession box
Dear Mary: How can I make my friends read the book I gave them?
Q. I gave a copy of Dan Russel the Fox by Somerville and Ross to a couple I know to be…
The case against London cabbies
It’s time to end the archaic privileges of London taxi drivers
America's war on sleep
The relentless rise of ‘you snooze, you lose’
