Ruth Padel is an award-winning poet, journalist and broadcaster -- and the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. She lives in North London with her daughter.

There are few women writing non-fiction today with such a sophisticated understanding of language, such a nuanced approach to style, and such a brazen willingness to engage with the big issues, personal and political. This is a gripping and informative book, always intriguing and occasionally dazzling

Ruth Padel is an award-winning poet, journalist and broadcaster -- and the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. She lives in North London with her daughter.

There are few women writing non-fiction today with such a sophisticated understanding of language, such a nuanced approach to style, and such a brazen willingness to engage with the big issues, personal and political. This is a gripping and informative book, always intriguing and occasionally dazzling