Dear Mary
Q. My sister and I own a popular caravan park which, for 30 years, has given happiness to around a…
Your problems solved
Q. My son was invited, both verbally and via Facebook, to a schoolfriend’s 16th birthday party. However, when I met…
Dear Mary
Q. We have just moved into a charming little hamlet in Warwickshire and were delighted to find a bottle of…
Dear Mary
Q. Our son, aged l6, has a medical condition which, although not life-threatening, requires surgery by a specialist to pre-empt…
Your problems solved
Q. It’s only April and yet I am being emailed by parents who have already taken charge and are drumming…
Dear Mary
Q. I have three spare bedrooms in London and I welcome friends to come and stay. Unfortunately, some of these…
Dear Mary
Q. I am always making or receiving phone calls which get cut off. When I ring the person back their…
Dear Mary
Q. Is there a tactful way to keep one social offer on hold while waiting to see if you have…
Dear Mary
Q. My uncle, who is a brilliant dentist, has looked after my teeth since I was little. He also sees…
Dear Mary
Q. One of my best friends, who knows I don’t have a great social life at university, has a brother…
Dear Mary
Q. Recently a cousin and I gave a small drinks party in the USA. She had invited a very elegant…
Dear Mary
Q. Over New Year I stayed with a man who combines being a generous and exciting host with a punctilious…
Dear Mary
Q. I gave a copy of Dan Russel the Fox by Somerville and Ross to a couple I know to be…
Dear Mary
Q. At a private screening of a documentary about the artist David Bomberg, a woman sitting near me in the…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a tattoo the length of my forearm and am worried it will alienate my new boyfriend’s parents…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a problem with what might be called location blindness. I live in Balham, but when I arrange…
Dear Mary
Q. We had our son’s fiancée and her family to stay recently. After dinner, expecting conversation, we were shocked to…
Dear Mary
Q. I travel internationally two or three times per month for work, often with one or two colleagues. While the…
Dear Mary
Once again Mary has invited some of her favourite figures in the public eye to submit personal queries for her…
Dear Mary
Q. Six years ago a rather glamorous man bought the house opposite me. Although he always responds to requests for…
Dear Mary
Q. My egregious mother-in-law turns 80 this December. She is not short of a bob but for one of my…
Dear Mary
Q. A friend generously hosts an annual Christmas party in London where we see many old friends we have been…
Dear Mary
Q. Walking at a local beauty spot the other day, I passed a handsome young man. We exchanged a few…
Manners for beginners
Sandi Toksvig, as this book’s cover declares, ‘makes Stephen Fry look like a layabout’. The broadcaster, author, comedian, actress and…
Dear Mary
Q. One of our daughter’s godmothers has given very generous presents but never with any regularity. She was unable to…
