VANIA couldn’t take decisions. She had struggled since she was a child. On one occasion, she took so long to choose between two slices of cake that she’d been given neither. The experience could have

Strolling among the crowds visiting the Royal Observatory at Greenwich on New Year’s Eve, Grace is thinking of the momentous decision she must make. She can’t put it off any longer. She’s promised Hal

I stood by the kitchen window; phone pressed to my ear. Outside, frost shimmered across the lawn, and the weak winter sun filtered through the trees. “So, what do you think?” I said to Phoebe. “A post

IN AN AGE OF COMPARISON CULTURE AND GLOSSY SOCIAL-MEDIA LIVES, IT’S HARD NOT TO QUESTION YOUR OWN PROGRESS. BUT THERE’S NO RIGHT PATH TO LIFE AS THESE WOMEN, WHO ARE TURNING CONVENTION ON ITS HEAD AND SHARING WISDOM AS THEY GO, DEMONSTRATE…

Most people are glued to their phones these days, but my sister won’t go anywhere without her notebook. She bought it after we went on a writing course, and she took it out of her bag as soon as I par

by Harriet Lane (£20, HB, Orion) What lies beneath the image we construct of ourselves? Ruth, newly divorced and drifting as her daughter leaves home, feels invisible – until Sookie, her dazzling form