Literary news andreviews with alocal flavour

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…

Dir Julia Ducournao, France/Belgium, 2025 On digital platforms As the daughter of a gynæcologist and a dermatologist, it was perhaps inevitable that French screenwriter/director Julia Ducournao would

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

My only commandment is ‘Thou shalt not bore’

Congratulations! This year is going to be your year Well, our year, apparently. Because according to those self-important global governing bodies with names that sound like a tin of Alphabetti Spaghet