One in five people will experience depression in their lifetime. It can be anything from a serious depressive period that lasts at least two weeks (major depression) to a less severe low mood that lasts for years (dysthymia). It can run in families, but difficult life circumstances are more likely to bring on a bout. […]

While chemists’ shelves bulge with expensive weight-loss treatments, researchers have discovered that something as simple and cheap as drinking two glasses of water before every meal could be just as effective when trying to slim down. Instead of messing with your hormones or playing with your body’s chemistry, this weight-loss technique is childishly straightforward: the […]

The cliché of a moment on the lips meaning a lifetime on the hips has been given credence by a new Swedish study that shows that even short periods of binge eating can leave the body more susceptible to weight gain for years to come. Previous studies have linked weight-gain to the ageing process, but […]

Two young lovers – one Indian, one Welsh – fall in love, sparking a lifetime of challenges, children and courageous rebellion, with a vow to “rattle the cage of the world”. The Salman Rushdie endorsement on the cover does this charming, gentle love story a disservice. Not because it isn’t “captivating”, as Rushdie notes – […]

Indelible Ink, BY FIONA MCGREGOR, SCRIBE, $32.95 A late-life divorce leaves Marie King with a large house on Sydney’s North Shore, a horribly judgmental brood of adult children and a growing dependence on white goods and alcohol. So far, so predictable – until the day, on impulse, she gets her first tattoo. Then another. She […]

NOMAD , BY AYAAN HIRSI ALI, HARPERCOLLINS, $35. Just 40 years old this year, Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali has already lived many lives: the dutiful Muslim daughter, who was hideously “circumcised” at five; the young woman who fled from an arranged marriage; and the conservative Dutch politician. Ali has been called brave, but also a […]

THE LACUNA BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER, FABER & FABER, $23.99. A lacuna is a blank space, like the missing part of a jigsaw, and a title well-chosen for this fascinating novel and winner of the 2010 Orange Prize. It tells the story of dreamy young Harrison – son of a flamboyant Mexican mother and largely absent […]

THE SNOWMAN BY JO NESBØ, RANDOM HOUSE, $32.95. “Guaranteed cooler than Stieg Larsson,” says the cover sticker. Who could resist? Nesbø is Norway’s gun crime writer and with this – his fifth novel to be translated into English – he has broken big, proving there’s life in the old serial-killer genre yet. Distinguishing this one […]

THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER BY JOJO MOYES, HODDER & STOUGHTON, $32.99. The Last Letter From Your Lover is a perfectly executed love story. It weaves together two tales: that of present-day journalist Ellie and wealthy 1960s housewife Jennifer. Ellie is in a less-than-perfect relationship with a married man when she discovers a beautiful […]

THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE BY JULIE ORRINGER, VIKING, $32.95. Hate, war and the machine of corrupt bureaucracy take Julie Orringer’s finely drawn characters and fling them cruelly into the hands of fate. The Invisible Bridge begins in 1937, when sensitive student Andras Levi leaves Budapest to study architecture in Paris. His financial struggles and the difficulties […]