3 d. ago Richard Osman explains his 'ridiculous' views on life and why he loves 'doing nothing'

Richard Osman is back with a new Thursday Murder Club book, The Impossible Fortune, and it's going to be packed with twists and turns

Politics

4 d. ago Amity by Nathan Harris review – perceptive portrait of slavery’s aftermath

This follow-up to the Booker-listed The Sweetness of Water charts the perilous journeys of a brother and sister in the Reconstruction era, from the deep south to MexicoAs a fellow novelist, I do not envy Nathan Harris the task of coming up with a chaser to his 2021 debut, The Sweetness of Water. Booker-longlisted, a New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club pick, it even appeared on that list of stuff Barack Obama likes that I’ve always assumed some poor zoomer intern is tasked with making up at the end of every year (I’m maybe being cynical here – there is a non-zero chance that Obama really did spend 2022 blasting Ethel Cain. In which case, my apologies – and, samesies, Mr President!).If Harris did feel sophomore jitters, then Amity, his 2025 follow-up, certainly doesn’t show them. This is a smart, sensitive and very assured novel, albeit one that doesn’t stray radically from the winning formula of its predecessor. Once again, Harris takes the Reconstruct...

Politics

7 d. ago Richard Osman addresses Thursday Murder Club backlash as he makes admission

Netflix fans were thrilled last month when the film adaptation of Richard Osman's book, The Thursday Murder Club, was released.

Events

8 d. ago Richard Osman makes subtle dig at Thursday Murder Club film adaptation following fan outrage at 'unforgivable' plot change

Richard Osman appears to have shared a subtle dig at the highly divisive Thursday Murder Club film - as the latest of the British author's true crime series has come out today, with glowing reviews.

Events

9 d. ago Richard Osman shares wife's 'tearful' phone call as he gives personal life update

Richard Osman is celebrating the release of the latest book in his Thursday Murder Club series, The Impossible Fortune, and his wife Ingrid had a touching response

Politics

9 d. ago Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir has raised eyebrows – but she always comes out on top | Emma Brockes

A new tale from the longtime purveyor of self-love is both horrific and poorly done, and nobody’s sure how to respondIf you are someone who reads multiple news sources a day, a fun way to occasionally spend your time over the last few weeks would have been to watch how critics and commentators have grappled with a hard problem. It is not, admittedly, as hard as the problem of grappling with consciousness. But it is hard enough that the famous assurance by Glennon Doyle, lifestyle coach and thought leader, that “we can do hard things,” remains relevant. I am talking about the problem of how we talk about All the Way to the River, Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir – specifically, how to be kinder and more measured about it than the book really deserves.As you may know if you are one of the 30 million people who bought Eat Pray Love, one of the tens of millions who have read Big Magic or one of her other novels, or simply one of her 1.2 million followers on Instagram, Gilbert recently pub...

Politics

1 week ago Richard Osman says 'loneliness is an epidemic' as he reflects on 'grief of loss'

Former Pointless star turned hit author Richard Osman has a new Thursday Murder Club book coming out and hopes it gives a message of hope to readers

Politics

2 w. ago Queen Camilla battles cough as Her Majesty welcomes 'fellow bookworms' to annual literary festival

The Reading Room Festival at Chatsworth House grew from an Instagram book club Her Majesty launched in 2021

Politics

3 w. ago Did Elizabeth Gilbert really try to murder her dying addict girlfriend?

All the Way to the River is a revelatory new memoir from the Eat Pray Love author

Events

3 w. ago All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert review – excruciating to read

The Eat Pray Love author’s account of her relationship with her late partner Rayya is solipsistic and self-indulgentThe first chapter of Elizabeth Gilbert’s much anticipated new memoir closes on a four-page love letter to Gilbert from her late partner Rayya, who, dead for five years, comes to her in a “visitation”. In Rayya’s voice, Gilbert calls herself babe, baby, or “sunshine baby” multiple times, emotes in all-caps, and grants herself permission to write the details of Rayya’s terrible, humiliating final year. “Let me just look at you for a minute,” “Rayya” says to Liz. “Look at your little rainbow eyes! Look at your sparkling tears! You’re so beautiful!” The letter is deeply self-indulgent and excruciating to read. “You’re going all the fucking way this time – all the way to the enlightenment.”I believe that the dead are gone and that artists don’t need their permission to evoke them. But I was stunned that this solipsistic mess opens the book, because Gilbe...

Politics

3 w. ago Oprah Winfrey selects Elizabeth Gilbert's new memoir for her book club

Oprah Winfrey's new book club pick is Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir, “All the Way to the River.”

Politics

3 w. ago She was the queen of the spiritual memoir – so how did Elizabeth Gilbert end up plotting to murder her girlfriend?

The beloved author behind ‘Eat Pray Love’ returns with a beguiling tale of drug abuse, addiction, and co-dependent love. While it’s a notable shift in subject matter from the woo-woo spirituality of her most famous work, much more interesting is the book’s repositioning of Gilbert from everyday woman to wise guru, writes Annabel Nugent

Politics

3 w. ago Winter of the Crow review – Lesley Manville commands cold war thriller

Toronto film festival: the Oscar nominee makes for a compelling heroine in a solid and intermittently suspenseful tale of a professor stuck in a nightmareThe specific brilliance of Lesley Manville had been on display for those who knew where to look long before her first Oscar nomination. She’d been part of the enviable Mike Leigh troupe (her first nomination should have been for Another Year) and a permanent small-screen fixture, even if the size of her roles hadn’t correlated to the size of her talent. But after Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson’s singular magnum opus, Manville has enjoyed a spectacular boom, a long-deserved reward for her and an even bigger one for those of us watching.The role came as she was entering her 60s, a period that can often leave female actors with grimly limited options, but she’s bucked the trend, not just through the sheer amount of work she’s found but also the unusual variety. She’s avoided the post-Book Club subgenre of mostly patronising come...

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4 w. ago The Thursday Murder Club author Richard Osman reveals what he really thinks about controversial movie adaptation change fans branded 'unforgivable'

British author Richard Osman, of The Thursday Murder Club book series, has hinted at his true feelings about an 'unforgivable' movie adaptation change.

Culture

4 w. ago Thursday Murder Club viewers fuming after Netflix makes 'unforgivable' change to Richard Osman's book

Writing on Reddit, several people demanded 'justice for Bogdan' - the Polish handyman brought to life on-screen by actor Henry Lloyd-Hughes - after his storyline was 'bizarrely' changed

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