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Modern medicine has enabled citizens of wealthy, industrialized nations to forget that children once routinely died in shocking numbers. Could the child mortality rate go back?

Modern medicine has enabled citizens of wealthy, industrialized nations to forget that children once routinely died in shocking numbers. Teaching 19th-century English literature, I regularly encounter gutting depictions of losing a child, and I am reminded that not knowing the emotional cost of widespread child mortality is a luxury.

From newly published novels to timeless classics, Elizabeth Strout, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Irvine Welsh, Tessa Hadley and other writers choose their holiday favourites

A shocking documentary about a Dutch sperm donor scam that’s gone global, plus bitesize new episodes of the exquisite Australian cartoon

The Irish actor’s mother has documented her cancer battle on social media

A pregnancy leads to the unearthing of a mother and daughter’s secrets and struggles in this skilful debut novel

Strange happenings haunt an Irish island in this debut about an artist’s isolated existence

An artist on a remote island turns her gaze to a mysterious group of women living off‑grid in a thought-provoking and sometimes poetic debut novel by an award-winning essayist

Stand and deliver: this show’s here to steal your money and your time