5 d. ago Gunk by Saba Sams audiobook review – messy nights and motherhood

The first novel from the Send Nudes author moves from a Brighton club to baby feedingGunk opens with new divorcee Jules sitting at home cradling a baby who is 24 hours and 17 minutes old, feeding him colostrum from a syringe. After being fed, the baby cries, which Jules interprets as a howl of rejection: “He has no language to tell me I’m not right for him.” We learn that Jules isn’t the child’s biological parent; the birth mother is Nim who, shortly after being stitched up, left the hospital ward and seemingly vanished. Concerned for her wellbeing, the hospital called the police who questioned Jules. “Nim has run away before,” she told them. “And she’s good at hiding.”Set in Brighton, this is Saba Sams’s first novel, the follow-up to her much-admired short story collection Send Nudes. Where that book examined the lives of girls coming of age, Gunk has an older heroine in Jules, who is desperate to have a child. Her alcoholic ex-husband, Leon, who ran a student nightclub and with wh...

Politics

6 d. ago Funeral director kept my baby's body in a bouncer in her living room 'watching cartoons'

Zoe Ward, 32, was left 'screaming' in panic after seeing her baby Bleu, who was just three weeks old when he died of brain damage at Leeds General Infirmary in 2021.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Systemic failures’ led to unlawful death of girl at mental health unit – family

A jury inquest ruled the death of Ruth Szymankiewicz, who was left unsupervised at a children’s mental health ward, as unlawful killing.

Society

2 w. ago Girl, 14, who died on children's mental health ward when Ghanaian agency worker with a fake ID left her unsupervised was unlawfully killed, inquest rules

Ruth Szymankiewicz, who was being treated for an eating disorder at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire, was under strict one-to-one observation when the staff member for her walked away.

Events

3 w. ago Hospital worker tears up as she recalls death of girl, 14, left alone on ward

Ruth Szymankiewicz died after she was left unsupervised at a children’s mental health hospital by an inexperienced agency worker.

Events

3 w. ago Hospital ward ‘missing half its staff’ on day suicidal girl left unsupervised

Ellesha Brannigan told an inquest that her team at Huntercombe Hospital had to bring in staff from another ward so staff could take breaks.

Events