An email from the school headed ‘important news – please read urgently’ was the first I heard about the hideous events of last Wednesday. It went on to say that there had been a serious sexual assault in the Summertown area at 8.30am “involving a stude …

It was while I was explaining to a French friend the rules of public school exeats that it hit me. “Term starts on September 6th,” I told her. “And then he’s not allowed out again until September 29th. I can go and watch him play in matches though.” “A …

It all starts with a phone call. “Mummy,” Olivia yells. “It’s an emergency, I came off my bike and my tooth has come out. There’s blood everywhere.” It is impossible to work out from the hysterical rant where she is but we rush out of the house at 11.3 …

My husband’s and my reaction to the images of Hugh Grant doing a great impression of a beached whale in Mallorca were very different. “How disgusting,” I said, pushing away my breakfast. “There’s no excuse for that.” “How marvellous,” said my husband. …

My new book is out. It all started with a flourish this weekend when the Daily Telegraph serialised it (link below). Publishing a book is a bit like having a baby. There is a long gestation period, followed by the new-born phase where you have to help …

I read with dismay that Germany is about to introduce single-sex carriages on the underground due to the amount of sex attacks on women by migrants. What kind of message does this send? It sends a message that we are willing to accept this outrageous b …

It must  be more than 10 years ago that I received a call from an editor at the French magazine Santé. I was on a train at the time, heading from our home in the south of France to London, and I remember the line being rather bad. The editor asked me i …

“This isn’t a scam isn’t it?” I asked Laura from Orange Models. “I mean I know people do lure young girls in with the promise of an illustrious modeling career and all they’re really doing is selling them a portfolio.” Laura assured me it was not. Seve …

I have been meaning to do this for days and I guess it’s now or never. Having read a lot of fairly dreary lists of books of the year I would like to share my own hopefully not so dreary list…. A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by …

There are several stages of parenting, and you tend to share them with your girlfriends. The excitement of the first pregnancy scan, the birth, followed by the toddler stage, comparing first steps and first words, the funny things they say, the adorabl …