The acclaimed author and poet talks about her new book, telling the true stories of patients at a derelict Victorian psychiatric hospital – a place in which she might have found herself at a different time Doireann Ní Ghríofa wrote much of her first book of prose, A Ghost in the Throat, sitting in her car on the top floor of a multistorey car park, having dropped her children off at school in Cork city. Whatever works: her imaginative journey into the life and mind of 18th-century Irish poet Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill was so convincing and original that it captivated readers and won the James Tait Black biography prize and, in Ireland, the An Post book of the year award. Having published several well-regarded collections of poetry, it seemed as if this blend of biography, memoir and meditation had enlarged the way in which she could write about her abiding preoccupation: the ever-present past. She returned to her car to work on her new book, Said the Dead. But this time, it was parked in front of a vast building high on a hill overlooking the river Lee, one half of it derelict and the other half transformed into apartments. Its history was long: originally referred to simply as the district asylum at the end of the 18th century, a grand gothic-revival building had been constructed during the 1840s, and named, after Ireland’s Lord Lieutenant, the Eglinton Lunatic Asylum; in the 20th century, it became the Cork District Mental Hospital and, in its last incarnation before closing in 1992, Our Lady’s Psychiatric Hospital. Many such institutions existed across Ireland, a patchwork of private and public mental health provision that operated against the backdrop of colonial rule, poverty and famine. Continue reading...

George Eliot’s masterpiece of provincial life still has much to teach us about sympathy and tolerance Virgina Woolf declared Middlemarch “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people”. Henry James said that some of its scenes were the most intelligent in English fiction. Even Martin Amis, over 100 years later, called it “a novel without weaknesses”. Now this 900-page portrait of 19th-century provincial life has been voted the best novel of all time in a Guardian poll of writers, academics and critics. George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) was already a highly successful novelist by the time Middlemarch was published in instalments in 1871 and 1872. Beginning with a marriage, and a deeply unhappy one, it upends “the marriage plot” established by Jane Austen. Nineteen-year-old Dorothea Brooke has “a passionate desire to know and to think”, and a longing “to lead a grand life here – now – in England”. Unfortunately, that England didn’t afford many opportunities for women, and she misguidedly hitches her idealism to the desiccated scholar Casaubon. This is not the novel’s only disastrous marriage. The ambitious young doctor Tertius Lydgate makes an ill-suited match to the vain and shallow Rosamond Vincy. Continue reading...

⚽ Your welcome to an ultra-busy footballing weekend ⚽ Today’s fixtures | Tables | Get Football Daily | Mail Emillia Aston Villa cruised to a huge 4-2 win over Liverpool last night to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League. An Ollie Watkins double, along with goals from Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, saw Unai Emery and Co jump to fourth in the table. Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! Chelsea take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final this afternoon, but that is not the only big match we have to look forward to. Continue reading...

Mikel Arteta’s side will be deeply unpopular champions, but this probably says more about us than it does about them There was a minor stir a few years back when some American scientists bred a strain of “gene-edited” hamsters with the chemical that causes anger removed, presumably so they could achieve one of humanity’s historic goals: the dream of a more docile hamster. Unfortunately the opposite happened. What the scientists created was a race of hyper-angry hamsters. These were described a little glibly in the media as Mutant Rage Monsters. But science is always more nuanced than this. We shouldn’t put angry hamsters in a box, even when we are literally putting angry hamsters in a box. Longer studies have shown more varied results. Sarcastic hamsters. Hamsters that hold grudges. Hamsters that retreat into silence on long car journeys. Even a subset of passive-aggressive hamsters who are, seriously, just fine with this. It’s pretty much what they expected from you, anyway. Continue reading...

Swedish firm Maurten’s high-carb drinks, bicarb sludges and hydrogels are giving super spikes a run for their money Inside an unremarkable Gothenburg office building rented from the local university are a series of conference spaces named after the modern greats of distance running. There is the Eliud Kipchoge room, the Keely Hodgkinson room and, the latest addition, the Sabastian Sawe room, in homage to the man who recently redefined the limits of human endurance. When Sawe last month in London became the first person to run an official marathon in under two hours, much of the coverage focused on the Kenyan’s carbon-plated shoes. But here, on the west coast of Sweden, a team of scientists, nutritionists and technicians believe another factor was just as significant, if not more so. Continue reading...

On Sunday the Red Roses chase an eighth straight Women’s Six Nations title, with hosts Les Bleues seeking a slam too It all comes down to this, again. France have been runners-up to England in the Women’s Six Nations for the past six years, edging ever closer: last year’s decider was settled by a single point. But can François Ratier’s team not only end England’s dominance in this competition but also halt their 37-game winning run on Sunday? If they show up from minute one to 80, France can do it. England will be favourites to lift their eighth straight Six Nations trophy but have been contending with a lot this tournament. Retirements, pregnancy and injury mean the team are without a wealth of talent including Zoe Stratford – the usual captain – Abbie Ward and Alex Matthews. They have continued to win with a depleted squad but their depth will be given its biggest test yet against an in-form France team. Continue reading...

Residents of al-Bustan district told to make way for Kings Garden, with knocking down own houses cheaper option At the bottom of a steep and densely populated valley just below Jerusalem’s old city walls, the earth has been shaken in recent weeks by jackhammers and bulldozers. These have been the sounds of Jerusalem for decades as the Israeli state has relentlessly sought to stamp a uniformly Jewish identity on to the occupied east of the city, while erasing its Palestinian character. Continue reading...

Our photographer, Tom Jenkins, captures the discontent at both clubs after years of mismanagement as the trapdoor awaits one of them Fury. Grief. Embarrassment. Horror. Resignation. The emotions run hot for supporters of West Ham and Tottenham right now as the two grand old clubs stare at potential relegation from the Premier League. With their spiritual homes demolished at the altar of progress and profit, first Upton Park in 2016 and then White Hart Lane in 2017, both clubs had visions of glory days ahead. Instead they have been consumed by greed, mismanagement and false promises. Key perpetrators such as Karren Brady at West Ham and Daniel Levy at Spurs have exited the scene, but David O’Sullivan is still the Hammers chairman and the damage remains. Pictured above: Home fans react to a missed chance during the Premier League match between West Ham and Everton at the London Stadium on 25 April 2026. Pictured below: The London Stadium, claret boots and caps, and signs from a protest against the club’s owners. All photographs by Tom Jenkins. Continue reading...

The case of a student who could lose hundreds of pounds after the UK changed travel advice points to wider problems for travellers In February, when Lottie Cornwall booked a summer trip to Lebanon, she was excited at the prospect of introducing her boyfriend to her Lebanese extended family. “My mum’s whole side of the family live there,” she says. “I last saw my grandmother and cousins in 2022. My heritage means everything to me, and this was a chance for my boyfriend to meet my family, and to show him where I come from and why I’m so in love with it.” Continue reading...

If there’s no proof of aliens, the president can blame the deep state. If there’s proof, he’s a hero. Either way, it helps his popularity The US Department of Defense released the first batch of its UFO files last week at the direction of the president, Donald Trump, who promised to make them public “based on the tremendous interest shown”. Trump’s right, of course. Nearly half of Americans believe aliens have visited Earth, and many believe that the government is hoarding the evidence in some shadowy laboratory or military base. This conspiracy began in 1947 at Roswell, New Mexico, when the Roswell army airfield issued a news release about the crash of a “flying disc”, and has never truly gone away. Continue reading...

Week of leadership jostling has left Keir Starmer looking vulnerable and short of time – even though no challenger has officially come forward It was a minute or so into his BBC interview on Friday morning, after being asked about “moves” to remove Keir Starmer, that Steve Reed ran out of patience. “There is no contest,” he interrupted. “‘Moves’ mean nothing. People need 81 nominations to stand against the prime minister.” The housing secretary, a close ally of Starmer and a founding member of the Labour Together thinktank that catapulted him to power, was right, of course: no one has formally challenged the prime minister, let alone ousted him. Continue reading...

Apple’s superbly twisty thriller about a beautiful camboy blackmailing a divorced mum is like the new No Country for Old Men – with added Nick from New Girl I was drawn to this week’s show for the worst reason. That name is pure critic bait, and I like my fruit low-hanging. Other famously pre-roasted works include the films The Happening and Fantastic Four, and the Oasis album Be Here Now. (No, thanks.) In my schadenfreude-soaked soul, I wondered if Apple’s show might join them. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (Apple TV, from Wed)? Do I need the warranty? It stars Tatiana Maslany, who also led the brilliantly titled, if widely slated, show She Hulk: Attorney at Law. No one doubts Maslany’s chops. She won an Emmy playing 17 distinct clones in the sci-fi series Orphan Black. Here she plays Paula, a divorced mother going through a custody battle. Paula’s only access to intimacy is with a young online sex worker named Trevor. Despite his name, Trevor is beautiful, like Jeff Buckley. I suppose Jeff isn’t the most exotic name either. Continue reading...

From Blue Sharks and White Wolves to the Zhurong vehicle, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 Where did the Zhurong vehicle take a selfie in 2021? 2 Which artist claimed “the most beautiful thing in Florence is McDonald’s”? 3 Which record company’s HQ had a sign reading Hitsville USA? 4 What carpet shark has an Australian Aboriginal name? 5 What, in 1970, was the last horse to win English racing’s triple crown? 6 Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft are stages of membership of what? 7 What term for a reused document comes from Greek for “scraped again”? 8 In Japan, ama are women who seek what? What links: 9 Booker prize, 1974, 1992 and 2019; best actress Oscar and Eurovision, 1969; best actor Oscar, 1932? 10 Plato; Francis Bacon; Aquaman; Patrick Duffy? 11 Alentejo; Dão; Douro; Porto; Madeira; Vinho Verde? 12 Walter Plinge; Alan Smithee; George Spelvin? 13 Alternate nostril; box; diaphragmatic; 4-7-8? 14 Chinese leader, 11; big clothes, 40; engine size, 200; audio format, 400; US capital, 600? 15 Blue Sharks; Blue Wave; Chivalrous Ones; White Wolves? Continue reading...

A late-night viewing of the Cabaret star’s appearance with Kermit and co set me on the path to the West End. I even have a tattoo of her on my thigh! Bronzed, with winged tips and doused in Le Male, I clamped the baby pink GHDs to my hair until they sizzled and singed it. Emerging from a cloud of cheap hairspray, I was ready for the dancefloor. I was 18 and had grown up in Blackpool, a place synonymous with hedonism and fun. I came out in high school at the age of 14 and from 16 I studied performing arts at a local college. Underage, I was smuggled into clubs and in my spare time I watched shows in our many beautiful theatres. The bright lights of the illuminations, the showgirls, the feathers, sequins and rhinestones were intoxicating. Blackpool really was – and still is – extraordinary. When the bar closed, a new adventure would begin. One night, as the sun was coming up (and as was I), a drag queen took me back to her place. I didn’t know the significance of what I was about to experience, but I was to receive an education no university course could ever match. Continue reading...

As Keir Starmer endures a slow ousting as PM, former Labour leader Corbyn recalls his own expulsion and looks at the runners and riders “Yeah, I do feel [sorry for him],” said Jeremy Corbyn, with only a little hesitation. “On a personal level it must be devastating. It is a horrible feeling. You suddenly realise that this person doesn’t trust you at all and really doesn’t wish you well at all, and you suddenly realise that any trust that was there actually disappears.” There are few in politics who have had the experience of being the subject of a Labour party-style coup, the British equivalent of being dragged from your office to be put up against a wall. Letters of resignations from so-called political friends, condemnatory statements on social media, all dripped out for maximum effect with the end goal of pushing the target, once the subject of standing ovations and gushing plaudits, out on their tail. Continue reading...

From a stylish retreat in Norfolk to a remote hideaway on a Scottish island, these boltholes will make for a truly memorable stay Tourism experts are predicting a bumper year for “staycations” with more of us choosing to holiday in the UK due to continuing uncertainty around jet fuel prices and possible flight cancellations. Holidaymakers are spoilt for choice with more than 350,000 UK self-catering listings on booking platforms, from rustic barn conversions to seaside villas with all mod cons for large family gatherings. We’ve done some of the leg work and whittled down a selection of cottages which all offer something special, whether it’s a stunning location, a breathtaking view or a level of comfort and style that wouldn’t be out of place in a boutique hotel. Continue reading...

Firms do not offer cover for some models, or charge more than for equivalent petrol cars, research finds UK insurers are more hesitant to cover some hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) from China than cars from other countries, research suggests. While some drivers can save money by buying cars made in China, they may have more limited options to get insurance than those buying electric, hybrid and petrol cars from Europe, the US and South Korea. Continue reading...

Rent donations on GoFundMe up 60% since 2022, with 100,000 donors helping people keep a roof over their heads A record number of people in the UK are turning to crowdfunding to cover rent and household bills, with GoFundMe reporting more rent-related fundraisers were created in April than in any month on record. The platform said donations towards rent support had risen by 60% since 2022, with more than 100,000 people a month contributing to help others meet their housing costs. Continue reading...

Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes ​Submit a question Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World. Continue reading...

The Eurovision grand final kicks off in Vienna, with Graham Norton’s iconic commentary. Plus: Ncuti Gatwa takes SNL UK on a victory lap. Here’s what to watch this evening 8pm, BBC One Continue reading...

The style on the Croisette is off to a strong start Continue reading...

Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights; Ulysses or Catch-22 … Find out which title came top, as chosen by authors, critics and academics worldwide • See the full list here As Stephen King points out, compiling a list of the greatest novels of all time is an impossible task. King is one of more than 170 novelists, critics and academics the Guardian polled for their top 10, ranked in order, which we tallied to compile an overall 100. But, as he argued, 10 books is “not enough!” On King’s list there is, he’s sorry to say, “not a single Dickens”; he wishes he’d found space for David Copperfield or Oliver Twist. One Day author David Nicholls’s choices are “definitely skewed towards novels I read at an impressionable age”, he says. Bernardine Evaristo listed “some of my all‑time favourites, including several classics of the past 100 years”. Salman Rushdie, Anne Enright, Yiyun Li, Elif Shafak, Ian McEwan, Maggie O’Farrell, Colm Tóibín, Lorrie Moore, Katherine Rundell and many more have all cast their votes. Continue reading...

The decline of the glossy magazine industry as depicted in the sequel made me cry – but I shed no tears for how it was back then I didn’t think The Devil Wears Prada 2 would make me cry, but it did. All the fashiony high camp, all the sharp one-liners of the first movie (“By all means, move at a glacial pace, you know how that thrills me”) deliquesce into melancholy for a struggling media industry in the second film. We meet the older Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) – the put-upon assistant of Runway editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) in the original movie – when she and her newspaper colleagues are receiving an award for investigative reporting. Except that at precisely that moment they are laid off, by text message. Perfectly realistic: swathes of the Washington Post, including Pulitzer finalists and correspondents in war zones, suffered a similar fate (in this case, sacking by email subject field) in February. I didn’t think it would make me feel so nostalgic, either. The original Devil Wears Prada came out in 2006. Watching this thinly disguised portrait of American Vogue then was fun. I had served my apprenticeship at Condé Nast, at British Vogue and The World of Interiors, and I felt some vague kinship with Andy and her terrible blue jumper, who arrives a sceptic, goes native, then leaves for her true calling at a progressive newspaper. But now, 20 years on, other feelings crowd in. As my former Vogue colleague Louise Chunn wrote in the New Statesman recently, in the 1990s we had no idea we were working “at the high watermark of the circulation and power of the glossy magazine industry”. When those enormous, thick-papered tomes thunked down on our desks at Vogue House (which they literally did, hand delivered) they were so solid, so reassuring, so full of the promise of glamour and gorgeousness, that we thought it would go on for ever. Continue reading...

Frances, 77, a retired marketing manager, meets Eddie, 86, an activist What were you hoping for? A lovely evening with pleasant company. Continue reading...

We have to drag the bins through the house because the garden door is jammed. Until a scary encounter with my old enemy, that is … It’s still light out when my wife comes to me with bad news. “It’s bin day,” she says. Continue reading...