Music to her ears

L AURA phoned her mother, trying to keep her voice light. “Hello, Mum, I’ve got a bit of news,” she said. “Hannah’s moving in with her boyfriend. “I need to either get a new flatmate, or try to find s

HOW are you feeling today, Mum?” Anne asked as she kissed Elaine on the cheek and sat down in the chair opposite her. “I’m slowly getting there. But I’m still so cross with myself for taking that tumb

The thumping that had been going on overhead all morning suddenly stopped. Clara paused, red pen hovering over one of her pupil’s dogeared exercise books. A strand of brown hair fell across her sea-gr

ABBIE Whitrow heard the clang of metal on tarmac. She wondered if something had fallen off the bottom of her car. She had got it from a private seller, after noticing a handwritten ad stuck to its win

It was one of those cool misty mornings when Lucy had no firm idea how she wanted to spend her day. Nothing had leapt to the top of her to-do list when today’s planned coffee morning with her daughter

Joan Armatrading refused to change her name, refused to sing covers and baffled session pros with her unique timing. Here, she tells the story of her uncompromising debut album.