Rachel Cooke

The Christmas bird has now been financially weaponised

In London’s Yellow Bittern, bookings are taken by telephone only and payment is in cash – and the food is worth every penny

This account of the purported bond between Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, two fascinating chroniclers of late 20th-century America, is titillating but diminishes both writers

A sourdough-and-rocket monotony is spreading outwards from the M25. I worry about what we’re losing

A new account of the months Simpson spent in China debunks the well-worn gossip about sexual adventures and opium addiction and even invites admiration for a ‘buccaneering’ woman

A stirring performance by Víkingur Ólafsson of a piano concerto written amid a period of great sorrow. I think we could relate

The author’s novella about two young women whose yearning for freedom comes at a price sometimes feels unconvincing and underpowered

The writer and film-maker’s affection for the city of his youth shines through in this debut graphic novel about family, football and teenage dreams

A fun but often unpalatable collection of recipes by authors including Robert Graves, Norman Mailer and Beryl Bainbridge should come with a trigger warning. Anyone for Instant Mince or Dutch Onion Crisps?

She was better known as the wife of the artist Eric Ravilious, but the first major exhibition of Garwood’s visionary work is set to change that