A new plague facing women

Three graphic new books about depression by women writers will cast new light on Britain's hidden epidemic. Stephanie Merritt, herself a sufferer, recalls her own experience and argues for greater openness about a subject that still remains largely taboo

Desert child

A successful model in the Eighties, Waris Dirie is now far more distinguished by her work on eliminating female circumcision or, as she less euphemistically terms it, female genital mutilation

Is it worth it?

Monica Waitzfelder's investigation into her mother's claim that 'L'Oreal took my home', reveals the links between the Vichy government, fascist terrorists and the world's most powerful cosmetics firm. But was it worth it? asks James Purdon

Over the counter once more

Ian Pindar is glad that James McConnachie's tome of good conduct for men, The Book of Love, has been rescued

Mind your language, professor

Andrew Anthony hails The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker's latest examination of the human mind that sheds new light on what our words say about how we think.

Delicious reading

In Kate Colquhoun's Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking, an excellent history of the nation's appetites is to be savoured - with caution, says Paul Levy.