THE bell above the door jingled as Freya screwed the top on a big glass jar. “Be right with you!” she called, efficiently using the wooden steps to reach the top shelf and stow the aniseed twists wher

WHAT was the man thinking of when he did his shopping? Jessie thought. Two huge, brown paper parcels spilled food on to the kitchen table. Enough to feed a family for a fortnight at least. Slices of t

JILL tries to avoid talking to herself but always allows private laugh-out-loud moments when there’s no one around. This morning, standing alone in her spare bedroom, arms heavily loaded with a huge p

STEP ONE BUY YOUR ORANGES! No one could say my mother-in-law was easy to get on with. “Mum can be rather rude even though she calls it ‘plain-speaking’,” warned Jeremy when we became serious. “Dad cou

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

Our fabulous and funny columnist, comedian Helen Lederer is here to tell it like it is, in her own witty way…