I’m a second division dad

For boys, a talent for football goes hand in hand with being one of the gang. But what if you come from a long line of football failures - is your son doomed to struggle with the beautiful game? And does it matter? asks Will Hodgkinson

Eco-mom: here to save the world!

Middle-class mothers in the US are embracing environmental activism. But, says Zoe Williams, they have some pretty strange ideas about what it actually involves

The kindness of strangers

After more than 20 years with depression, Zoe Lewis thought she would simply have to put up with her illness. But a friend persuaded her to try group therapy. What happened next changed her life

My private hell

She was a young, successful writer with a flourishing career and a new baby. So why did she come within moments of throwing herself from a train? Stephanie Merritt describes the crisis that almost claimed her life

I am lucky

More than 16 years have passed since my beloved sister died from breast cancer. Aged just 40 and with three small children, she didn't want to die and she fought hard

After the fall

Four months before his daughter was born, Tim Rushby-Smith was paralysed in an accident. His recovery was not about scaling mountains or performing heroic feats, but about learning to take a shower, buy ice-cream and be a dad

First person

Aleasha Chaunte grew up in a happy twosome - just her and her mum. But then her mother discovered a new way of life with the Mennonite church. Would there still be room for Aleasha?

Q&A

Alfred Brendel, pianist