One day I shall astonish the worldSusan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else). But now, thirty years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and Norma out of reach on a wave of professional glory, Susan begins to wonder whether she has made the right

anger and denial

these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat

She identifies a fresh diagnostic category for those suffering from "hidden" traumas

holding a plastic carrier bag

He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'

authoritative and highly original portrait of one of history's most unjustly infamous characters

she and her husband left the city and high-flying careers to move the 500 miles north

'I was saying things in songs that female singers didn't really say back then

illuminated by examples from the fictional tales of Robert Heinlein

the stories of the Egyptian pharaohs and their ancient gods are steeped in thousands of years of history

and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday

"THE WORLD OF