loneliness
Small mercies: Dead-End Memories, by Banana Yoshimoto, reviewed
Rape, poisoning, child abuse and betrayal feature in Yoshimoto’s dramatic stories – but gratitude and forgiveness run alongside sadness, stitched in the same cloth
Divine revelations: I, Julian, by Claire Gilbert, reviewed
The pain – and ultimately serenity – Julian of Norwich experienced throughout her series of violent visions are vividly captured in this fine fictional autobiography
You’d never guess from her art how passionate Gwen John was
‘Dearest Gwen,’ writes Celia Paul, born 1959, to Gwen John, died 1939, ‘I know this letter to you is an…
Lonely voices: Dance Move, by Wendy Erskine, reviewed
‘The drawer beside Roberta’s bed contained remnants of other people’s fun’: so begins ‘Mathematics’, one of 11 stories in this…
A window on a fascinatingly weird place: Some Kind of Heaven reviewed
Some Kind of Heaven is a documentary set in The Villages, Florida, which is often described as a ‘Disneyland for…
It’s shameful how we have locked down our elderly
There’s a lot I don’t know about care home visits during this pandemic. I don’t know how straightforward it would…
The pandemic’s invisible victims
I sometimes pick up some food at Tesco for an 86-year-old pensioner who lives a few streets over. At the…
The art of negotiation: Peace Talks, by Tim Finch, reviewed
Early on in Tim Finch’s hypnotic novel Peace Talks, the narrator — the diplomat Edvard Behrends, who facilitates international peace…
A ‘loneliness pandemic’ could prove as dangerous as coronavirus
Adrian Woolfson explains the essence of pandemics – and how we can expect many more of them
We all need to be let alone —not just Greta Garbo
‘You’re never alone with a Strand,’ went the misbegotten advertisement for a new cigarette in 1959. What the copywriter didn’t…
A week of extraordinarily direct and honest radio on the World Service
The most inspiring voice on radio this week belongs to Hetty Werkendam, or rather to her 15-year-old self as she…
More menace – and magic – on the moors
Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney was one of the surprise stand-outs of last year, and a worthy winner of the…
Olivia Laing: homeless and tempest-tossed in the Big Apple
Like a lot of people, Olivia Laing came to New York to join a lover. Like a lot of people,…
Where’s all the joy gone?
Britain seems to be suffering from a dearth of lightheartedness
Colm Toibin’s restraint – like his characters' – is quietly overwhelming
In Colm Tóibín’s much-loved 2009 novel Brooklyn, Eilis Lacy, somewhat to her own surprise, leaves 1950s Enniscorthy (Tóibín’s own home…
