La vida

**Past Its Best** This morning in a quiet town on the edge of the Lake District dawned cold and grey.

My parents had just given us a flat—and my mother-in-law already decided who to hand it over to.

**The Basement Summer** At first, there was a crash. The kind that rings in your ears, as though a lorry

The Basement Summer It started with a crash. The kind that makes your ears ring, as if a lorry had ploughed

**Diary Entry** My parents aren’t millionaires, but they give everything they can. Yet my husband, Tom

When I brought my ailing mother to live with us, my husband demanded, “Rent out her flat and make

**November 15th** William stood by the window of his flat in Manchester, watching schoolchildren hurry

My parents aren’t millionaires, but they’d give you the shirt off their backs. And then my husband had

Last summer, this little corner shop in the park near Camden was buzzing—kids licking ice creams, laughing

When I brought my ill mother to live with me, my husband demanded, “Rent out her flat and make