Have you got anything stronger?

by Lucy Jane Wood (£20, HB, Pan Macmillan) Annie Wildwood works tirelessly to be the perfect witch. As well as running the Celestial Bakehouse, she goes above and beyond to please everyone around her,

L If they’re ever looking to recruit spies, forget handsome, fit, blue-eyed Bonds. Forget gym-buffed Daniel, impossibly good-looking Tom and danger magnet Matt. Look instead for a middle-aged woman in

Set up by our very own columnist Helen Lederer, the Comedy Women in Print Awards champion the voices of women who tackle serious and heartfelt subjects with a generous dose of humour. Here, we talk to three of this year’s shortlisted authors...

Thanks for coming in today, Bea,” said Jason, the commissioning editor at Bluestone Press, where Bea was interviewing for yet another assistant job. “We’ll be in touch.” “Okay, great,” replied Bea, fo

The best new books you’ll love

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was my recent holiday read, and I loved it. It tells the story of lonely widow Tova, whose teenage son vanished 30 years ago. She works at a small aquari