The Book Of The Year 2019: The World’s Weirdest News No Such Thing As A Fish Hutchinson £12.99 Rating: Did you know that in 2019 a Belgian man broke the record for sitting on the toilet for the longest time – 116 hours? Or that a zoo in Texas has offered members of the public … Read more
Brenda Blethyn is wearing a blue-and-white crushed velvet jacket by Eileen Fisher, a smart black blouse and trousers, heeled brogues from Russell & Bromley and a beautiful silver necklace. She is a picture of elegance and absolutely nothing like the TV detective she plays, who looks as though she gets dressed in the dark at … Read more
Guy Ritchie has just had a massive hit with the live-action Disney version of Aladdin, but now he’s going right back to his roots with a cracking new movie about gangsters, geezers and good old England. ‘The older I get, the more I love England and the quirks and nuances of English culture,’ says the … Read more
From Douglas Kennedy’s ‘atmospheric’ Isabelle In The Afternoon to The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow and An Yu’s debut, this week’s new fiction By Hephzibah Anderson and Eithne Farry For Event Magazine and Anthony Gardner Published: 22:02 GMT, 28 December 2019 | Updated: 22:02 GMT, 28 December 2019 Isabelle In The Afternoon Douglas Kennedy … Read more
La Traviata Royal Opera House, London Until March 23 Rating: Richard Eyre’s take on La Traviata celebrates its 25th birthday with performances through until late March, … Read more
Bring in the new year with uplifting fizz By Olly Smith Event for The Mail on Sunday Published: 22:02 GMT, 28 December 2019 | Updated: 22:02 GMT, 28 December 2019 Where has this year gone? It’s as pointless as asking why the sky is up. Much better to ponder what to drink on New Year’s … Read more
BOOK OF THE WEEK ON THE HIGH WIRE By Philippe Petit (Weidenfeld & Nicholson £9.99, 115pp) When my son ran away to join the circus, I more or less ran away with him. I couldn’t be kept away from the Academy of Circus Arts, the apprentice arm of Zippos. Most weekends, I would cook a … Read more
Revealed: Port Talbot had the highest growth in house prices in 2019, as towns offering homes for bargain rates top list of property hotspots South Wales town was identified as Zoopla’s top property hotspot for this year Cwbran, Wales, and Leigh, Manchester also saw high house price growth But Aberdeen and Witney in Oxfordshire saw … Read more
The General Election, Brexit and Christmas have all been used as excuses for the housing market grinding to a near-halt. Government figures show the average time from a home going on Rightmove to a buyer moving in is 20 weeks, with 30 per cent of deals collapsing, sometimes because sellers say yes to an offer … Read more
PICTURE THIS By Joe Viner For The Daily Mail Published: 09:35 GMT, 27 December 2019 | Updated: 09:35 GMT, 27 December 2019 BORN TO PARTY, FORCED TO WORK by Bronson van Wyck (Phaidon £59.95) BORN TO PARTY, FORCED TO WORK by Bronson van Wyck (Phaidon £59.95) You might think that staying in to ogle photos … Read more
CRIME FICTION By Geoffrey Wansell for the Daily Mail Published: 09:35 GMT, 27 December 2019 | Updated: 09:35 GMT, 27 December 2019 JUST WATCH ME by Jeff Lindsay (Orion £20, 368 pp) JUST WATCH ME by Jeff Lindsay (Orion £20, 368 pp) From the creator of vigilante serial killer Dexter — who tracked down murderers … Read more
YOUR STARTER FOR TEN 1 In 1974, Nadine Gordimer and Stanley Middleton. In 1992, Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth. In 2019, Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo. What am I talking about? 2 Which British novelist, who died earlier this year aged 94, remained in obscurity until the age of 64, when her 13th novel, The … Read more
Is this the bit of festive prep you’ve forgotten? We look at three differently decorated Christmas TABLES to see how they will be Insta-ready Three social media stars reveal how they’ll decorate their Christmas tables The table decorations include fake foliage as well as gold-coloured underplates By Myra Butterworth For MailOnline Published: 08:00 GMT, 24 … Read more