Family
The tragedy of being a QPR fan
Normal families spend the Easter holidays by the seaside or in the Mediterranean. But not the Youngs. My three boys…
Elegy in a country churchyard
‘I love this old watering can,’ said my sister, sprinkling the miniature rose. ‘Though I do worry about soaking Mum.…
When did brothers and sisters become ‘siblings’?
I never cared much for the word sibling, though I hardly knew why. The reason must be that it was…
Dear Mary: How do I stop my husband spying on me?
Q. My husband has developed an irksome habit whenever he goes abroad without me. We have cameras outside the house…
What really happened when my wife left me in charge
I’m currently standing at the top of Brownie Point Mountain, having spent the past two weeks looking after our three…
Howard Jacobson superbly captures the terrible cost of becoming a writer
Howard Jacobson, who turns 80 this year, published his first novel aged 40. Since then he has produced roughly a…
Why a church in Jerusalem is the model for all family-owned holiday homes
Malindi, the Indian Ocean When I lived in Jerusalem a long time ago, I often visited the Church of the…
The difficult decisions that come with downsizing
The difficulties of downsizing
The conflict at the heart of the migrant question
A friend, a Cambridge professor, passing my old college last week, was startled to encounter a young lady standing outside…
My family and the scars of forced adoption
My family still bears the scars of the forced adoption scandal
Why I’m paying my daughter to go to church
Why I’m bribing my daughter to get confirmed
Why the baby doomers are wrong
Rarely does a piece of journalism bring a tear to my normally cynical eye, but I did find this happening…
What are the Queen’s favourite tipples?
Drinks at the palace The Queen was reported to have given up regular drinking. What do we know about her…
Who let the dog out?
Caroline and I are just back from a weekend break in Scotland and, nice though it was, I hadn’t realised…
The rise of the secular godparent
The rise of the secular godparent
I took my wife to a Millwall match – and it didn’t go well
The fighting started just as Caroline turned right on to the Uxbridge Road after emerging from QPR’s stadium on Loftus…
Why I gave up writing fiction
When, three years ago, I announced my retirement from writing fiction, the only thing that surprised me was the surprise…
The sorry state of the modern apology
I think I would like to apologise for this article in case someone who reads it takes offence. I will…
Football’s never coming home
I failed a moral test last weekend. A friend offered me a free ticket to the Euro 2020 final and…
My battle to be top dog
Even a small dog can be quite high maintenance. No, I’m not talking about Mali, our one-year-old cavapoochon, but Bertie,…
Hugs vs the hug-nots: where do you stand?
It’s the hugs vs the hug-nots
Water, water everywhere: Touring the Land of the Dead, by Maki Kashimada, reviewed
Maki Kashimada won the 2012 Akutagawa Prize for Touring the Land of the Dead, the strange, unsettling novella that makes…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my sister-in-law pinching food off my plate?
Q. Since the relaxation of lockdown, my brother and his wife have started coming to our garden for takeaway meals.…
The false narrative of white vs BAME
Almost 20 years ago, Michael Howard spoke about the ‘British dream’: that immigrant families like his could come to this…
Dear Mary: What should my wife and I do with the risque photos we took in our youth?
Q. I hesitate to bring you this problem, but I suspect it is not that uncommon. Early in our very…
