Is it stress?
I stand in front of the mirror feeling dizzy and a little sick. At first, I thought it was the light catching on my hair and making it shine. I even thought it was my…
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Dad’s socially distanced 70th
Dad is turning 70 in lockdown. We cancel the surprise family holiday to Craster. Here’s what you could have won. I write in his card, including a picture of the beautiful Northumberland coast. Then I…
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Piling on the pounds
‘My shorts have shrunk.’ I’m standing in front of the mirror, trying to fasten the denim cut-offs that fitted perfectly last summer. I stretch and pull the material and manage to force the button and…
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The world is baking
There is not an ounce of flour to be found anywhere. ‘The shelves are empty,’ Mum phones to tell me. ‘I’ve looked everywhere.’ ‘I think I have some,’ I say, not wanting to get her…
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We’re living in a germ factory.
‘Do you think you’re in news overload?’ Chris asks me on Thursday night as we sit down to watch the evening news. ‘We have to be informed,’ I tell him. ‘It’s important.’ ‘But you’ve got…
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My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay
As soon as I started reading Lemn Sissay’s My Name Is Why, I couldn’t put it down. The book is not a thriller, it is a memoir of growing up in care, but it reads…
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