Settling scores

We suspect you know where you were, half a decade ago this spring, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the country to ‘stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’. But as research paints an increasingly detailed picture of the ways in which those years shaped everything from our health habits to our identities, academics are asking a different question: who were you back then? And who are you now?

Have you learned everything by your 30s or do different versions of yourself appear with every decade? We asked five brilliantly wise women what they’ve discovered along the way

‘He’s been a poppet, as always,’ Anne said when I arrived at her house to collect my son. On the days that I worked, my ex-mother-in-law picked Ezra up from school for me. She smiled indulgently. ‘He

Maggie smoothes down the front of her frock – the same dyed black dress she wore for Pa’s funeral ten years before. As she touches the fabric, she glances down at her hands, now decorated with liver s

MEAT ✣ Medium whole chicken (1.6kg) ✣ 70g chorizo slices ✣ 500g beef mince (12% fat) DAIRY ✣ 150g pot natural yogurt ✣ 4 medium eggs ✣ 260g Cheddar cheese FRUIT/VEG ✣ 7 onions ✣ 1 red onion ✣ Garlic b

He controlled every part of my life, right down to my haircut