Family
Football’s never coming home
I failed a moral test last weekend. A friend offered me a free ticket to the Euro 2020 final and…
My life as a dogsbody
Even a small dog can be quite high maintenance. No, I’m not talking about Mali, our one-year-old cavapoochon, but Bertie,…
Open arms
It’s the hugs vs the hug-nots
Family feeling
Maki Kashimada won the 2012 Akutagawa Prize for Touring the Land of the Dead, the strange, unsettling novella that makes…
Dear Mary
Q. Since the relaxation of lockdown, my brother and his wife have started coming to our garden for takeaway meals.…
Minority report
Almost 20 years ago, Michael Howard spoke about the ‘British dream’: that immigrant families like his could come to this…
Dear Mary
Q. I hesitate to bring you this problem, but I suspect it is not that uncommon. Early in our very…
Father figures of fun
The politics and posturing of ‘middle-class dads’
Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder
The wine has been flowing in the Young household this week. The reason I’ve been celebrating is because I managed…
Wild life
Malindi, Kenya I’ve learned that mourning must be tackled ever so gently. As a younger man, when friends were killed…
Diary
My great-great-grandmother, born on a Barbadian plantation and transported to what was British Guiana in the 19th century, gave rise…
Farewell Richard. You were the best of us
I heard the shocking news last week that one of my oldest friends — Richard Edwards — had died suddenly…
My recipe for mayhem
Caroline was pretty heroic during the first lockdown. She’s used to having no children to deal with between the hours…
A dog is not just for lockdown
The Dogs Trust charity received 114 calls on 27 and 28 December from people wanting to offload their puppies. No,…
Ghosts of Christmas past
Seances, trikes and the miracle of tinfoil
Chance of a lifetime
As I gaze at my four children on Christmas morning, clambering on to the bed with their stockings, I will…
Diary
I’m often asked when I’ll write a pandemic novel. I’m not sure I’d ever be tempted, though the backdrop of…
A shed of one’s own
I’ve moved out of my home. No, Caroline and I haven’t broken up. It’s just that we’re having the house…
Dear Mary
Q. My son has moved his girlfriend into our fairly small house for the second lockdown. I am grateful for…
No respite
What lockdown means for families with disabled children
Wild life
Bexhill-on-Sea My Aunt Beryl taught me to love books and paintings. When I’m at a loose end in London, lonely,…
Oxford circus
If you’re looking for a sign of the academic times, you could do worse than consider the image, published in…
She was just a damn cat – and I loved her
I’ve never dug a grave before. But that was how I spent my Sunday afternoon. Three feet is awfully deep…
The joy of proving my wife wrong
Back in April, The Spectator ran a feature in which the partners of regular contributors wrote about what it was…
The puppy has won
Will the huge surge in demand for puppies and kittens during lockdown lead to a lot of abandoned pets when…
