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Matilda Is Missing

Matilda Is Missing

Matilda Is Missing by Caroline Overington, Bantam Australia, $32.95.

It sounds like it could be dry and grueling content — a novel about a custody fight for a little girl from a family torn apart by divorce.

Yet Matilda Is Missing is so much more than that. It is a gripping and emotional tale of love and marriage — and why we do it at all!

As the book’s description reads — “Garry Hartshorn and Softie Monaghan were never love’s young dream. Not even on their wedding day. But Softie’s body clock was ticking and Garry wanted children …”

This is a very familiar tale for thirtysomethings, as declining fertility is never far from the headlines these days.

It raises the uncomfortable question: do we always really marry for love? This story of what really goes on inside families and marriages is compelling.

Author Caroline Overington obviously draws on her experience as a columnist for The Australian and writes elegantly and with emotion about the complex and not always fair workings of the Family Court.

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Lola’s Secret

Lola's Secret

Lola’s Secret by Monica McInerny, Penguin, $29.95.

Lola Quinlan’s 12-year-old great grand-daughter approvingly likens her to Lady Gaga; kitted out with panache in pink tights and leopard-print dress.

Family saga author Monica McInerney’s 84-year-old creation also loves the internet and slips in smiley emoticons on emails like they are going out of fashion.

Lola’s secret — a Christmas bash which backfires — spells out more life, love and laughter where best-selling The Alphabet Sisters left off.

McInerney’s cast of a thousand chatty voices are etched effortlessly and resonantly by the end of chapter two and have been described as “comfort reading” and “warm buttered toast”.

True, except McInerney’s painted protagonist is no pushover and there are no honey-dripped endings either.

This slice of life is crusty and tough, full of grains of truth: it is never too late to live, but you are never too old to learn.

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Demi Moore files for divorce

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher on the red carpet in October.

Demi Moore has announced that she is filing for divorce, ending her six-year marriage to Ashton Kutcher.

The 49-year-old actress released a statement today, confirming she was ending the relationship with “great sadness and a heavy heart”.

In pictures: Demi and Ashton in happier times

The statement also hinted at Ashton’s rumoured infidelity, saying: “As a woman, a mother and a wife, there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life”.

Minutes after Demi’s announcement, Ashton, 33, posted a message on his Twitter page about the split.

“I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi,” he wrote. “Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and Light, AK.”

Ashton hit the headlines in September when it was alleged that he had cheated on Demi on the night of their sixth wedding anniversary.

Sara Leal, 22, sold her story revealing a night of passion with Ashton and several other naked beauties in the hot tub of a hotel.

Demi and Ashton tried to save their marriage in the weeks after the scandal broke, spending time at Kabbalah retreats, but it is now clear their attempts at reconciliation failed.

Demi and Ashton wed in 2005. They appeared to have a very happy marriage, but cracks began to appear last year when Ashton was accused of sleeping with a 21-year-old party girl in the marital bed while Demi was away for work.

In pictures: Demi Moore models for Ann Taylor

It will be Demi’s third divorce. She was married to singer Freddy Moore from 1980 to 1984 and actor Bruce Willis from 1987 to 2000.

She has three daughters from her marriage to Bruce, Rumer, 23, Scout, 20 and Tullulah, 17.

Your say: Do you think relationships involving large age gaps can ever last?

Video: Demi and Ashton are over

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Natalie Wood drowning case re-opened after 30 years

Natalie Wood death case re-opened after 30 years

Natalie Wood in a studio shot taken in 1965.

She’d always feared the deep ocean. But in 1981, that’s where Hollywood actress Natalie Wood died.

She had been sailing on the yacht Splendour with her husband and a friend. They thought she had gone to bed, but she was later found floating in the water, wearing only her nightgown, a down jacket, and socks.

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Los Angeles police say they are going to re-open one of Hollywood’s most famous cases of mysterious death, saying “investigators were contacted by persons who stated they had additional information about the Natalie Wood Wagner drowning”.

Natalie, who starred in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, was spending the night on her yacht with her husband, Robert Wagner, and a fellow actor, Christopher Walken.

There was a drunken fight on board — the men say they argued about whether Natalie should pursue her art at the expense of her family — and Natalie went to bed. However, she was not there when Wagner retired.

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The official version at the time was that she had gone to tie the dinghy up, and slipped.

Your say: Do you think it’s worth re-opening cases after so long?

Video: Natalie Wood’s movies

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Demi and Ashton in happier times

Demi Moore has announced that she is filing for divorce, ending her six-year marriage to Ashton Kutcher.

The 49-year-old actress released a statement today, confirming she was ending the relationship with “great sadness and a heavy heart”.

The split comes two months after Ashton was accused of cheating on Demi on their six-year wedding anniversary.

Here are some pictures of Demi and Ashton in happier times.

Demi and Ashton exchange a loving look earlier this year.

The couple couldn’t keep their hands off each other last year.

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The couple looking very much in love in 2010.

Demi and Ashton whispering sweet nothings on the red carpet in October 2006.

Looking blissfully happy in August 2009.

Smiles all around in September 2009.

Demi and Ashton looking tense on the red carpet in October.

Demi’s weight has dropped dramtically since the scandal broke in September.

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Demi Moore announces divorce

Demi Moore announces divorce

After attempting to repair her marriage, Demi Moore has announced she is divorcing her husband of six years, Ashton Kutcher.

In a statement to Associated Press the 49- year-old said it was with a “heavy heart” that she announced the news.

“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton,” she said in the statement.

“As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life.”

The pair’s marriage fell apart after claims that Ashton cheated on his wife with 22-year-old Sara Leal.

Ashton quickly followed his estranged wife’s statement by tweeting: “I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi.”

He then took to his Chime.in page and wrote: “Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and light, AK.”

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The most shocking celebrity stories of 2011

It has been a big year! So, here are the most shocking celebrity stories of 2011.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love child

In May 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years announced their separation. Just a week later it emerged that the driving force behind their split was that Maria found out Arnold had fathered a secret love child with the family maid more than 10 years ago.

Read more: Maria Shriver heartbroken that Arnold fathered love child

Ashton caught cheating

When news broke that Aston Kutcher spent his six year wedding anniversary with two mystery blondes in a hot tub, it was clear Demi and Ashton weren’t happily married any more.

Following this news breaking Sara Leal, the woman who says she had sex with Kutcher on that night, opened up about her night with Ashton. Despite trying to work it out, Demi filed for divorce from Ashton a month later.

Read more: Sara Leal breaks her silence

Kim Kardashian’s 72-day marriage

It was dubbed “Hollywood’s royal wedding” but the marriage between reality queen Kim Kardashian and basket baller Kris Humphries only lasted 72 days.

In what turned into a media frenzy, Kim filed for divorce against Kris just before she landed in Australia for a number of media appearances, but left prematurely to work things out with Kris who was said to be “devastated” by the divorce.

Read more: Kim claims she made no money off her wedding

Mel’s rant at Oksana

In July 2011, voice mail messages and phone conversations between Mel Gibson and his former partner Oksana Grigorieva were leaked to the public.

In the exchanged between the pair Mel launches a number of insults towards Oksana saying that she “deserved” the beating she took because she was keeping their daughter away from him and ruining his career.

Read more: Listen to Mel’s rant here.

Justin Bieber’s paternity test

Mariah Laci Yeater claimed that pop star Justin Bieber was the father of her five-month-old son and issued court documents ordering a paternity test.

Justin strongly denied the reports and agreed to a DNA test. But Yeater revoked her suit against the singer after he said he would countersue if the results came back negative.

Charlie Sheen’s meltdown

Following a troubled year in 2010, Charlie Sheen’s downfall continued. In January 2011 he was admitted to hospital after complaining of severe abdominal pains. He then checked himself into rehab stopping production on his hit TV show Two and a Half Men.

Charlie was soon fired from the show after making all-out media assaults on his “Two and a Half Men” producers and began claiming that “tiger blood” flowed through his veins in an interview.

Read more: Why Denise stands by Charlie

Shane Warne proposes to Liz Hurley

Everyone was shocked when images emerged of cricket legend Shane Warne and Liz Hurley canoodling in the UK.

The pair who have since made their relationship well and truely public via Twitter, shocked everyone just as much when they announced their engagement.

Read more: Shane and Liz engaged!

Monaco wedding

When Prince Albert II of Monaco married 33-year-old South African Charlene Wittstock a national French newspaper,Le Journal du Dimanche reported that his bride tried to escape three times before the £55 million ($82 million) wedding took place.

Prince Albert, who already has two illegitimate children, also faced another paternity scandal at the time.

Read more: Monaco’s royal wedding

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony split

While the public were shocked by the split between Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, those close to the couple weren’t.

“Marc is very controlling. In the beginning she liked that because he stood up to her, and in the early days he was very much in love with her and she was with him,” J-Lo’s stylist Phillip Bloch.

Read more: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s shock split

Lindsay Lohan’s jail time

Lindsay Lohan has had multiple trips to jail and rehab since 2007, and 2011 wasn’t any different with her starting it off in rehab and being accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace.

As part of her punishment for stealing the necklace the actress was sentenced to 360 hours community service, but failed to attend all of the community work, which resulted in a short stint in jail and more community service.

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Sofia Vergara told to reduce bust to be successful

Sofia Vergara told to have a breast reduction

Modern Family star Sofia Vergara.

Sofia Vergara is famous for her curvaceous body, but when she first moved to Los Angeles her publicist told her she needed a breast reduction if she wanted to be taken seriously.

The 39-year-old Modern Family star moved to the US from Colombia and tried to pursue a career in television.

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While most aspiring actresses get boob jobs to increase their assets, Sofia was told that she needed to have her DD bust reduced if she wanted to “make it”.

“When I moved to America, I was more voluptuous, and I felt a little different,” Sofia told the December issue of Health magazine.

“My publicist [at the time] told me, ‘I think you should just reduce your boobs because nobody’s going to take you seriously here’.”

Sofia said she seriously considered having her famous assets altered, but her mother convinced her that it was a terrible idea.

In pictures: The best film and TV transformations

“She was like, ‘God is going to punish you! You can’t cut your boobs!'” Sofia told the publication. “I don’t regret not doing it, because now it’s become a big part of my character on Modern Family.”

Your say: Do you think actresses should be pressured to have plastic surgery to be successful?

Video: Sofia Vergara discusses her famous body

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Demi and Ashton discuss marriage at Bruce Willis’ house

Demi and Ashton work on marriage at Bruce Willis' house

While they are yet to publicly speak about the breakdown of their marriage, it seems Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have continued working on their relationship behind closed doors.

So where did the estranged spouses chose to meet to work over their problems? The pair escaped to Demi’s ex-husband, Bruce Willis’ holiday house in the Turks and Caicos Islands US magazine reports.

“Things have been very strained,” an unnamed source told the publication.

“[But] they’re trying to figure things out.”

The pair has kept a very low profile since it was revealed that Ashton spent the night with 22-year-old Sara Leal, who spoke openly about his infidelities and the night they spent together.

“They had to get away,” the unnamed source said.

“Ashton’s tweeting [about Penn State] was the last straw.”

Last week Ashton stood up for ousted Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who was fired amidst a huge child-abuse sex scandal, without knowing full details of the story. He later apologised, but handed his Twitter account over to his management to run.

Do you think that Demi and Ashton can mend their marriage? Share your thoughts below.

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Soldier surprises parents

Soldier surprises parents

We usually see US soldiers returning from Afghanistan to surprise their children, but in this case National Guardsman First Lt Charles Jacobs surprised his parents.

The pair were being honoured with dropping the ceremonial opening puck at the Boston Bruins’ hockey game and didn’t know their son had just arrived home on leave.

The Bruins had arranged for them to be reunited which lead to an emotional surprise that brought everyone in the arena to tears.

“I just thought we were out there to be supporting family members, we didn’t think he’d be showing up. Didn’t think about it,” said Darron Jacobs, Charles’ father said.

“The listened to the announcement and it said they had someone to help us drop the puck … I don’t know what to say, it’s just [makes us] very happy.”

Watch the video of Charles Jacobs surprising his parents in the video player above.

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