Literature
Will the real Elena Ferrante please sit down?
It is her words and voice, not her purported identity, that matter to her fans
The lady vanishes
TV adaptations have masked the complexity and skill of Agatha Christie
Why modern novels are so boring
Writers who forget bourgeois aspiration lose a dimension
Mike Lear: Lubricious lensman
If Mike is in any way conspicuous, it is by virtue of his sheer inconspicuousness
When London really was built back better
This is an eloquent book that describes the architecture, culture, topography, and social life of a vibrant city
Glaring omissions of a whistle-stop tour
Carey is the tour guide of a magnificent villa telling of the wonders that lie beyond a closed door
A life indecently full of fun and games
This is not a journey you will find in most accounts of the twentieth century
The myth of infallibility
Dispiriting as it may be, great authors are capable of writing bad books
Sherlock Holmes plays the white man
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s many passions included a view of Empire that would today be regarded as racist
Male authors: the sun also sets
Give up writing, men – the world will be a happier place when you do
Why not the Taliban Line?
These new overground lines are not sufficiently progressive
Sinking giggling into the sea
The Conservatives were very amused with Rishi Sunak’s latest joke, even if no one else was
Maligning the missionaries
Should the Church of England regret the promotion of Christianity?
Giving noticing a bad name
Observing factual differences is not the same as leaping to conclusions
Is Britain on course for abortion up to birth?
Diana Johnson’s amendment creates a medical and legal vacuum that would endanger women and their babies
A monumental work on British buildings
Gavin Stamp’s posthumous book is a magnificent tour d’horizon, a bible of the styles available to architects between the wars
Truss alone
Young Liz was accidentally left in charge of the country, only to be menaced by the worst sort of criminals: Tory MPs
Self-ID versus survivors
Traumatised women deserve to know that they can be supported by women
Go woke, go broke?
The collapse of Vice Media is a story of an American left — aggressive, iconoclastic, irreverent — that no longer exists
Torygeddon
The Conservatives face an extinction level election, but there’s still time for some prehistoric bloodletting
Lutfur Rahman and the future of localism
A new and dangerous kind of local politics is emerging in Britain
