The mother of a mystery: Audition, by Katie Kitamura, reviewed
A married couple’s life is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of a handsome young man out of the blue claiming to be the woman’s son
The road trip from hell: Elegy, Southwest, by Madeleine Watts, reviewed
Watts skilfully conjures a sense of impending doom as a young couple’s expedition to the American Southwest is threatened by deadly fires sweeping through California
Deep mysteries: Twist, by Colum McCann, reviewed
An enigmatic captain tasked with repairing undersea communication cables disappears, and it’s up to his shipmate to discover why
How to fix Germany’s broken army
On 27 February 2022, three days after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz…
Businesses give Reeves’s Budget a ‘thumbs down’
What did businesses really think of Rachel Reeves’s Budget? Today we have one of the first economic indicators reflecting their…
The Basement Government
The last presidential election was one in which the term “popular front” took on new meaning owing to the Covid…
In defence of strict teachers
Labour have become alarmed by the strict, ‘cruel’ approach to discipline in schools and the rise in the number of…
If only Britain knew how it was viewed abroad
If the country were a person, it would need its friends to sit it down and deliver it a few home truths about its damaging behaviour to itself and others, says Michael Peel
Anti-Semitism has returned to French politics
New Caledonia is an archipelago in the South Pacific not far from Australia. James Cook discovered it in 1774, but,…
Women on a wind-swept island: Hagstone, by Sinéad Gleeson, reviewed
Nell, an artist, lives peacefully on an island, presumably off the west coast of Ireland. But all changes when a group of women occupy a crumbling convent overlooking the sea
My Britney Spears Theory of Action
Every week I check the weather in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Svalbard. It’s about as close as you can…
The latest Venice Biennale is ideologically and aesthetically bankrupt
Last week’s opening of the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale marks a watershed for the art world. In much…
The digital habit
In an era that claims to value the authentic, the direct and the natural, the word “processed” has negative connotations,…
Why won’t the Conservatives stand up for conservatism any more?
Is it supposed to be enough for those of us of a culturally and socially conservative persuasion to know that some Tory…
The Shakespearean tragedy of Liz Truss
In his book The Five Basic Plots, Christopher Booker outlines five stages of tragedy: anticipation, dream, frustration, nightmare, destruction. So…
Liz Cheney is the GOP’s worst enemy
Liz Cheney made two interesting moves last week. One, she was among the fourteen House Republican who voted to pass the…
Does Liz Cheney want to be a Republican?
Last weekend, the Wyoming GOP Central Committee voted not to recognize Liz Cheney as a member of the Republican Party by a…
Liz Cheney, pioneer girl
Cowboy State Daily reports that Liz Cheney’s House campaign has so far hauled in $5 million in donations this year, some millions more than in Cheney’s previous…
Liz Cheney is running scared in Wyoming
Last Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney seized the opportunity during a House Armed Services Committee hearing to apologize to Gen. Mark…
The Tunisian paradox
‘We swore to defend the constitution,’ shouted the deputy speaker of the Tunisian parliament, to which a young soldier retorted,…
Is communism authoritarian capitalism?
On July 1, 1921, the founding congress of the Chinese Communist party was held in Shanghai, when 12 men gathered in…
Don't blame 'white privilege' for the plight of working-class kids
Tory MP Robert Halfon is right to say that the underachievement of white working-class students is a ‘major social injustice’. He is also…
Richard Dawkins' views on Down's syndrome aren't a surprise
Irish radio host Brendan O’Connor is not interested in having an emotional discussion. He’s just curious: if a man of…
Meghan’s critics and defenders are both wrong
When it comes to Harry and Meghan, is it time for everyone to take a collective deep breath? With the…
Why would anyone choose to live in Puerto Rico?
6 July 2024 9:00 am
US bailouts keep this poor relation afloat through bankruptcies, hurricanes and political bust-ups without even trying to boost its demographics or reverse its economic decline