Sam Leith

Andrea Ashworth wrote a classic of Mancunian literature. Why did she vanish from view? My search for the author of ‘Once in a House on Fire’ led to the other side of the world - and to a tantalising revelation

Anyone read ONCE IN A HOUSE ON FIRE by Andrea Ashworth? Anyone wonder what happened to her after publishing her one and only book in 1998?

Here you go: manchestermill.co.uk/andrea-ashwo...

"Either their long-term game is there won't be free elections or we'll fix the election or we'll steal it or gerrymander it, or they're perfectly prepared for someone who they disagree with to be able to use those same tools at some point in the future."

Wendy Erskine & John Niven: Darkly Humorous Fiction From Wed 13 Aug - Expect dark humour and keen insights into parenthood in this conversation with John Niven and Wendy Erskine…

Happy Publication Day to the one and only John Niven and THE FATHERS. It is gonna be great to talk to him and the brilliant @caoilinnhughes.bsky.social in August. @edbookfest.bsky.social

www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

This was a really great talk!

IIRC Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy had an epigraph saying “Reader, desist… It will strain your wallet and sprain your wrist.”

Hope you enjoy if you get round to it. It’s much less prohibitively priced in this edition, I’m happy to say.

Loved talking to @shteyngart.bsky.social for this podcast about his excellent new novel

Countless

A great oak has fallen; Allan Ahlberg’s gone.

I hear you, man

Ikr

As if the world wasn’t already bad enough, Wagamama has removed Ginger Chicken Udon from the menu.

Thank you! Excellent to hear from an early adopter

Oh sorry will add

Thank you! So pleased to have your enthusiasm

I read this in hardback and it was superb. I’d heartily recommend it for anyone who is even remotely interested in children’s literature and where our reading lives begin - you will be richly rewarded. Paperback coming soon!

So sorry- if only you’d told me!

🙏 hope you enjoy!

Isn’t it? Artist is the superb Rohan Eason

Me too! Less omission-related shame

Paperbacks exist. Prepare for another burst of shameless self-promotion in the run-up to September’s launch

Clicking my ruby slippers and saying “there’s no place like 1998” but I just get a spinny thing and a message that says “buffering”

No disagreement here

Yes. I’m personally fond of Lionel but she’s either trying to be funny or she’s being bananas. Something that struck me as odd though, less noticed, in that piece was the idea the police had contempt for ordinary people. I don’t think the average copper is a “woke elite”.

It is quite a weird thought process of editors to think that anecdotal online impressions from overseas have become the best source on life in Britain!

Kemi Badenoch isn’t working The Tory leader was supposed to save her party. What went wrong?

Thorough reported and excellently salty piece on Kemi Badenoch by Will Lloyd. Peppered with mini-scoops, too.

The president of the United States, ladies and gentlemen

Your regular reminder that over a lifetime, people born in 1956 will each receive on average £291,000 more from the welfare state than they paid in, compared to £132,000 for people born in 1996 (h/t Resolution Foundation)

Just something to consider next time you hear “I’ve paid in all my life…”

Headline about the FBI being ordered to flag mentions of Trump in the Epstein files. Pictured are Trump and his buddy Epstein.

Not sure how this hasn’t gotten more attention, but if Bondi ordered Patel to assign 1,000 FBI agents to work 24-hour shifts to flag any mentions of Donald in 100,000 pages of Epstein files, that’s kind of a big deal. 🤷‍♂️