Relationships
My first ever blind date
Four of us go for lunch once a month. My hippy ceramist neighbour, Geoffrey, is a foodie and one of…
Why OnlyFans has young British women in its grip
The porn star Bonnie Blue offers a straightforward explanation for her decision to join OnlyFans. She was in her early…
The naked truth about life modelling
When I left university, I prepared for a short spell of poverty while I sent off amusing and opinionated articles…
Two years without Jeremy Clarke
Two years ago, at five to eight in the evening of Monday 22 May 2023, I ran into the department…
In defence of virgins
If we were really an island of strangers, as Sir Keir Starmer attested this week, then it might be OK.…
Pope Francis, my love rival
To be honest, I felt relief when Pope Francis died. This had nothing much to do with his regular assertion,…
Why don’t men ask questions?
I’ll bet most women under 50 in relationships with men have found themselves wondering when on earth the man is…
Are you a ‘tidsoptimist’?
Last week Caroline sent me an Instagram reel that featured a Norwegian word and its English translation. A ‘tidsoptimist’, I…
Is there sex after 70?
When I turned 70 in September, I had a panic attack. I was certain that my romantic life was over.…
How to find your perfect man
My late parents perpetually promoted their marriage as the best in the history of the universe. Because this cult of…
How to get your husband to do the vacuuming
This column nearly didn’t happen. Just as I sat down to write, disaster! My dishwasher lost its connection to the…
Have I been blacklisted by the binmen?
Monday, and Camden council have yet again failed to empty my food waste bin. They never miss my rubbish or…
Good portraiture can reveal uncomfortable truths
My eldest daughter and her family are moving from a three-bedroom Art Deco semi with a garden and garage on…
‘The worst echo chamber is your own mind’: the unconventional life of philosopher Agnes Callard
Agnes Callard is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and she lives with her current husband and…
Heaven is a Trad Dad
M y husband earns more than me. A lot more. I am, of course, extremely fortunate to be in such…
There’s nothing sexy about a sex party
‘Sorry sir, the rules clearly state that all single men must be accompanied by a woman.’ As the frustrated guest…
My wife earns more than me – and it doesn’t feel great
This is the article I have thought about writing for years, but I have always ended up asking what would…
The inevitable rise of the divorce party
Have you been to a ‘divorce party’ yet this season? If you haven’t, not to worry, there’s still time. Divorce…
The nuclear family? We blew it up years ago
Now that John Lewis has produced a Christmas ad that celebrates family, starring white people as humans, all sorts of…
My brief encounter with online dating
Provence One of my daughters and a few pals, thinking I need company, have been urging me to get Bumble,…
My AI boyfriend turned psycho
Last week it was reported that a 14-year-old boy, Sewell Setzer, killed himself for the love of a chatbot, a…
The death of widowhood
There were many tributes paid to the Jersey aid worker Simon Boas when he died of throat cancer in July,…
Whatever happened to Lionel Shriver?
For many readers, my absence from these pages may have gone unnoticed. Those few who’ve detected my disappearance might have…
The rise of the ‘divorce influencer’
On Woman’s Hour recently, Anita Rani and her guests set out to celebrate the positive sides of a woman’s midlife.…
Help! I’m on a dating blacklist
There’s a online blacklist of men you should avoid dating and I’m on it. I discovered this over the summer…
