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“Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. They will never forgive me for lots of things.” I stopped dead, almost dropping the glass I was holding; my face hot, my hands trembling. I turned the interview up, rewinding the snippet again and…

The author on her love for Spike Milligan, the furore over Puberty Blues, and why being middle-aged is great

One of the year’s best books yet shows us an author at odds with her own storytelling

Vasili Mitrokhin defected in 1992 after spending years copying top-secret documents on Soviet spies and operations

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the largest repositories of Black history in the country

Guardian Australia’s weekend wrap of essential reads from the past seven days, selected by Claire Keenan

The Story of a Heart, which won this year’s award for nonfiction, tells how one child saved the life of another. The author talks about the amazing families involved, campaigning for a better NHS, and how being a doctor frames the way she writes

The winner of this year’s fiction prize on growing up as an outsider, why we’re all guilty of complicity, and using her acceptance speech to reveal that she is intersex

Exclusive: Pass to be presented to playwright’s grandson after original cancelled over conviction for gross indecency