My husband gave me a regal birthday present, only for the party to be shattered when his pregnant lover called me. Evelyn was thrilled, convinced she...
13April2025 London Really, we need your help! You simply must help us! shouted my motherinlaw, Eleanor Whitaker, as she burst through the front door. I blinked,...
15March2025 I arrived home for dinner, the meal that Ethel had been preparing all evening. I needed to speak with her; the conversation ahead would not...
It is a memory that has lingered with me for years, a NewYears Eve that turned into a quiet rebellion. I had grown tired of my...
Martha and Ethel, both in their eightiesMartha eightysix, Ethel eightyfourhad been strangers until fifteen years ago, when the old thatched roof of Ethels cottage proved sturdier...
FORGET OR RETURN? Emma, youll be the starfish in my aquarium, said my suitor with unwavering confidence. My eyes widened. Youre serious, Harry? I want to...
Ill never forget the day my granddaughter, Emily, first came into the world. Her mother, Jane, never wanted her. To Jane, Emily was just another piece...
A small, sootgray kitten named Poppy was given to me by my neighbour, a kindly young woman who loved all things delicate. Ill call you Little...
Neither one nor the other. Im done flying off with your daughter! I cant keep pretending Im happy about it. Im sick of this big happy...
He was deadset on a DNA test Mum was already whipping things up. Listen, Im not going to raise a kid that isnt mine Tomorrow Ill...
15March2025 Dear Diary, Im writing this for the only person who will ever hear the full truth of what happened...
31August2025 Diary I was born in a tiny village in the West Midlands. Im now twentytwo, and both my father,...
14April2025 Today I reflected on the way we tend to look after our ageing parents. My older brother, James, finally...
The effect of presence The sunrise was still painting the sky over the terraced houses of East Ham when Anthony...
Dear Diary, Grandsoninlaw, look!Elsie pressed her nose to the window. A pooch! she cried. Just beyond the gate a scruffy...
He had always felt that something was off, as if his life were travelling on a side track while the...
I remember old Ethel Whitby, who lived on the fringe of a tiny village called Littleford, way out in the...
While ambling along the banks of Windermere, Imogen spied a lone goose looking rather like it was pleading for a...
Mother, you really shouldnt bother making the trip now, my son Alex said, his voice flat over the phone. Its...
When Poppy turned thirty, the world around her seemed to stretch into a single, endless pause. By day she sat...