‘We’d been through so much’: Jean Hannah Edelstein on breasts – and life without them

All her life Jean Hannah Edelstein had tried to feel comfortable with her breasts, battling unwelcome attention and breastfeeding woes. But then came cancer and a double mastectomy – and she realised she was losing something she loved

Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris review – with a little help from John, Paul, George and Ringo

The Guardian journalist’s tender account of how music became a bridge between him and his autistic son, James, is full of wit and wisdom

The Life, Old Age and Death of a Working-Class Woman review – a son confronts his mother’s decline

Didier Eribon’s guilt and shame fuels an angry and eloquent meditation on our attitudes towards the elderly and the end of life

The death of my friend inspired me to follow my standup dreams

For one writer, tragedy led to comedy, the sudden loss of a colleague giving her the nudge she needed

The Sleep Room by Jon Stock review – haunting accounts of horrific medical abuse

A book about psychiatrist William Sargant’s unethical treatments at a London hospital in the 1960s is all the more powerful for its vivid patient testimonies

‘I was taking on a monumental challenge’: racing driver Billy Monger on why being a double amputee hasn’t slowed him down

After a horrifying crash, Billy Monger lost both his legs at 17. But from dancing on Strictly to setting a world record in the Ironman, he’s still powering ahead. Just don’t call him an ‘inspiration’…

‘I was sexualised, patronised and ridiculed’: how Charlotte Church survived the tabloids to become an earth mother

Charlotte Church has lived her life in the full glare of publicity, rising from child star to tabloid target. Now, happier and more free than ever, she’s found her feet – and her voice – at her healing retreat in the Welsh valleys

‘I’ve had seals nibble my toes!’ How sunkissed Cornwall became a 422-mile surf paradise

Surfing? It’s as Cornish as piracy and pasties. As a thrilling exhibition opens in ‘Britain’s California’, we enter a heady world of coffinboards, hotdogging Aussies – and bans dished out to gangs fighting on the beach

Alive: An Alternative Anatomy by Gabriel Weston review – our bodies in an eye-opening new light

A surgeon (and TV host) encourages us to take a fresh look at our organs in a smart and forceful study

Maternity Service by Emma Barnett review – a tour of duty in early motherhood

In this valuable, brutally honest guide, the broadcaster argues that a supposedly joyful time is often steeped in drudgery and social isolation

OurChemist

Our Chemist – Health