30 h. ago British backpacker reveals how she became the legal guardian of nine children after uncovering horrific abuse at orphanage

Letty McMaster, from Tunbridge Wells, arrived at the children's home in Tanzania as a teenager and was left shocked by the stories of abuse she encountered

Events

52 h. ago The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Godfall by Van Jensen; The Salt Bind by Rebecca Ferrier; The Poet Empress by Shen Tao; A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton; Hello Earth, Are You There? by Brian AldissGodfall by Van Jensen (Bantam, £20)The debut novel by a popular comic-book writer is set in a small town in Nebraska, after the landing of a three-mile-long alien figure dubbed “the Giant”. Local sheriff David Blunt is struggling to do his job following the sudden boom in population: in addition to scientists, government agents and soldiers at the highly classified research area established around the mystery from outer space, many more enthusiasts flood to the town, possibly including a serial killer. Two people have been killed in a horrifically brutal way when the FBI takes over and tries to shut him out. But when the next victim is a man he’s known all his life, Blunt is more determined than ever to catch the killer. His investigation draws him to infiltrate a doomsday cult and to discover more about the tangled ...

Events

5 d. ago Many schools don’t think students can read full novels any more. That’s a tragedy | Margaret Sullivan

Increasingly, teens are given only parts of books, and they often read not in print but on school-issued laptopsReading fiction has been such a joy for me that my heart broke a little to learn recently that many schools no longer assign full books to high school students.Rather, teens are given excerpts of books, and they often read them not in print but on school-issued laptops, according to a survey of 2,000 teachers, students and parents by the New York Times.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Culture

6 d. ago The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers review – the midlife adultery story our generation deserves

This is a witty takedown of insufferable millennial New Yorkers who have managed to ruin even sexIn Erin Somers’s The Ten Year Affair, Cora, a millennial mother, craves a bygone kind of passion from a bygone kind of man. Unfortunately for her, morality in 2015 is rigid and cynical, and instead of having the affair, Cora spends 10 years overthinking it, fantasising about it and discussing it with her potential lover, Sam – a playgroup dad who is “chief storytelling officer” at a mortgage start-up (yes, that’s his job title. They all have absurd jobs). The book presents itself as a comic take on the classic adultery novel and a send-up of a narrow, self-conscious group of downwardly mobile New Yorkers. I’d call it the midlife adultery story our entire generation deserves: a propulsive, witty takedown of insufferable hand-wringers who’ve managed to ruin even sex. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down.Cora and her husband Eliot are smug, overeducated Brooklynites who, with rents rising and c...

Politics

8 d. ago Dreaming of writing your novel this year? Rip up all the rules!

After 35 years of teaching fiction writing, the prize-winning author shares her wisdom. First tip? Don’t write what you know I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want to write a first sentence so idiosyncratic, so indelible, so entirely your own that it makes people sit up or reach for a pen or say to a beloved: “Listen to this.” A first line needn’t be ornate or long. It needn’t grab you by the lapels and give you what for. A first line is only a demand for further attention, an invitation to the rest of the book. Whisper or bellow, a polite request or a monologue meant to repel interruption. I believe a first line should deliver some sort of pleasure by being beautiful or mysterious or funny or blunt or cryptic. Why would anyone start a novel, “It was June, and the sun was out,” which could be the first line of any novel or story? It tells you nothing. It asks nothing of you. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Insider's Choice: Scottish debut novels to look out for in 2026

There are some highly promising literary debuts lined up for 2026, writes Vikki Reilly

Politics

2 w. ago TV bosses hold fierce bidding war for rights to unpublished 'Tupperware erotica' novel

Author Abigail Avis, 33, has written a hotly anticipated book about a housewife who uses Tupperware parties to secretly smuggle erotic stories to her friends and neighbours.

Events

2 w. ago I was trained from childhood to be a stickybeak. My dad’s philosophy was ‘always follow your curious nose’

Debra Oswald’s father taught her to be inquisitive about the world. As an adult she discovered that curiosity can help us endure whatever is happeningWhen I was 11 years old and expressed an interest in writing plays, my father was on it – booking theatre tickets, driving me to Parramatta Library to borrow scripts and giving me a portable typewriter for my 12th birthday. Soon after, when my teenaged sister mumbled an interest in genetics, we all found ourselves in a university lecture hall for a public talk on the subject.My dad’s philosophy was “always follow your curious nose” and along the way, he was inspired to conduct his own research into theatre or genetics or whatever happened to be fascinating to us kids. Even if it was mostly through books, Mind Alive encyclopedias, and vicariously through his children, he was a stickybeak about the world.Debra Oswald is a writer of novels, children’s books, stage plays and television Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The lone teenage boys seeking asylum in Britain: Where thousands of migrant children end up

There are more than 6,500 child asylum seekers living in the UK in 2025, raising questions over where they end up after arriving on small boats without a parent or guardian.

Events

3 w. ago Parenting a ‘Velcro kid?’ Experts share tips and tricks to find a moment alone

Clinginess is often a temporary phase in toddlers, children and teenagers – though sometimes it can be a sign of separation anxiety disorder

Politics

3 w. ago Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

Anointing a new Santa; a child refugee’s tale; a dangerous journey across frozen wastes; a YA roadtrip romance and moreThe Great Christmas Tree Race by Naomi Jones, illustrated by James Jones, Ladybird, £7.99Star always goes on top of the Christmas tree – until new decoration Sparkle kicks off a race. Who will win: Lights, Bauble, Snowflake or Reindeer? A festive picture-book caper with a child-pleasing twist.The Boy Who Grew Dragons: A Christmas Delivery by Andy Shepherd, illustrated by Sarah Warburton, Templar, £12.99Tomas, Lolli and the dragons in Grandad’s garden all love Christmas, but when a baby snow dragon hatches, her icy flurries make present-delivering impossible. Children and dragons team up to find a solution in this charming, funny picture-book introduction to the bestselling 5+ series. Continue reading...

Culture

3 w. ago Epstein photo dump shows woman with Lolita writing on bare body with dark undertones

In a disturbing image from the newly-released Epstein files, a young woman's foot is seen with writing from the controversial novel Lolita - a book about a man's relationship with a 12-year-old girl

Culture

3 w. ago Kate Garraway looks in high spirits as she enjoys a festive family day out with her teenage children Darcey and Billy at Winter Wonderland after revealing she's open to finding love again

Kate Garraway looked in very high spirits as she enjoyed a festive family day out with her teenage children, Darcey and Billy, at Winter Wonderland in London on Wednesday. 

Society

3 w. ago Children’s tsar urges parents to ditch their phones during festive family time

Dame Rachel de Souza’s comments came as she launched a new guide offering parents tips and advice for online safety, as well as around screen time.

Society

3 w. ago Bog Queen by Anna North review – a tale that could dig deeper

This story of a teenage druid whose body is discovered in a peat bog has memorable moments – but its evocation of time and place is unconvincingAnna North’s fourth book, Bog Queen, is a stranded or braided novel. First “a colony of moss” speaks – or rather, does not speak, but “if such a colony could tell the story of its life”, here’s some of what it might say. Then we have Agnes in 2018, American, tall, awkward, expert in forensic pathology and uncertain about everything else, including much of life in England. And then, in the first person, there is an iron age teenage girl, the druid of her village, riding towards a Roman town with her brother Aesu and friend Crab: “I had been druid for two seasons at that point and everyone said I was doing very well.”Agnes has a post-doctoral fellowship in Manchester, from which she is summoned to the discovery of a body in a peat bog in Ludlow. The story shadows that of Lindow Man, found by peat harvesters in a bog near Wi...

Politics

3 w. ago I’m a book critic and this is the novel that will be everywhere in 2026

Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear is an exploration of the trad wive aesthetic

Culture

3 w. ago Teenage girl shot in the Bondi Beach terror attack shielded children with her injured body as their mothers lay dead nearby: 'A true heroine'

The 14-year-old was caught up in gunfire while attending 'Chanukah by the Sea' at Bondi Beach on Sunday,

Events

3 w. ago Children's mentor convicted of sexual assault of five teenage girls at London school

Emem Udaw, 50, convicted over offences over 20 years ago as brave victims come forward years after abuse

Events

3 w. ago Women who say they were tricked into servitude for Opus Dei to meet in Argentina

Pope urged organisers to hold conference after 43 women alleged they were exploited as minors by Catholic groupBuenos Aires will on Tuesday host the first-ever international gathering of former Opus Dei members who say they were tricked and trafficked into domestic servitude as minors – allegations that have drawn scrutiny of the powerful, secretive Catholic group. Pope Leo XIV privately urged organisers to convene the conference, the Guardian has learned.Forty-three women in Argentina say they were lured to Opus Dei schools as children and teenagers under promises of receiving an education. Instead, they say they were forced into working up to 12-hour days, cooking and cleaning for the elite male members, without pay. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Peter Andre 'fully supports' social media ban as he issues chilling warning

Peter Andre has backed Australia's social media ban for teenagers and warned that the 'dangers are so real' online for children as he hopes that other countries will follow suit

Events