Latest news with #Memoir
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
I'm not childless - I'm child FREE: Childless by choice by Helen Taylor
Childless By Choice by Helen Taylor (Whitefox £14.99, 256pp) If you've ever met a perfect parent who swore, hand on heart, that having children has been a totally unalloyed delight, then the likelihood is that they are lying. That's not cynicism, it's the voice of experience. As a mother of two and grandmother of four, I can testify that children can offer the dizziest highs and blackest lows. Whether those two poles balance each other out seems a matter of luck. So why breed at all? Sadly, many women become mothers because that's what their own mothers and grandmothers did, then find themselves exhausted, disappointed and wondering where their individuality went. Helen Taylor understands this process because she's witnessed it in many women she knows. But she's also observed the happy camaraderie of family life – and felt wistful. Therein lies the dichotomy unravelled in this honest, thoughtful and touching book. An engaging blend of cultural history and deeply personal memoir, the book neatly offers a clever subtitle to interrogate the word 'childless' in the title. In exploring 'The Meaning and Legacy of a Childfree Life' Taylor poses a fascinating question. 'Childless' sounds so negative – something missing, loss, regret, potential loneliness. On the other hand, 'childfree' is a positive – a delighted dance of free selfhood, and no smelly nappies in sight. Yet neither 'side' tells the full story, as her book makes clear. Taylor's distinguished career has been within the university sector. Having taught English and American literature at three universities, she is now (in her 70s) an Emeritus Professor and the author of many books. Yet she holds back from suggesting that such a career would have been impossibly hampered by having a family – even though those of us who chose (or slipped into) motherhood years ago know how mind-numbingly frustrating, tiring and guilt-inducing the juggle of work versus children can be. In this age of often over-lyrical confessionals, Taylor's tone is refreshingly matter-of-fact. 'My tale is not tragic – although it contains bewilderment, regret and sorrows, as well as happiness and fulfilment. I had an illegal abortion that was performed safely by a Harley Street doctor, and to my relief no more pregnancies (helped by sterilisation in my early 40s). I have had two relationships involving step-children whom I found challenging but not monstrous. Most significantly, my long-term partner has expressed no desire to father a child with me. That said, there are doubts and ambivalences I have never really confronted…' Childless By Choice, she says, is an attempt to analyse such feelings, since many younger women (as well as her contemporaries) share them. There is a kind of puzzled generosity in Taylor's honest working through of her own complex emotions – with the help of other women she's talked to and the literary examples cited in a useful chapter at the end. This book comes at a time when Western governments are becoming more and more anxious about falling birth rates and looking at ways to make parenthood more appealing to a generation that has – arguably – grown used to doing its own thing, as well as angsting about the planet. Britain – in common with just about everywhere else – is facing a demographic crisis. Our birth rate fell to 1.44 children per woman in 2023, the lowest since records began in 1938. The 2024 numbers show a tiny increase, mainly caused by an increase in babies born to fathers aged over 60, and to first-generation immigrants. But that's certainly not enough to keep the wheels of a sophisticated nation turning – which is why Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson recently stated that she wants 'more young people to have children'. However, the rather feeble liberal qualifier she added – 'if they so choose' – rendered the political wish pretty pointless. And it takes us straight to the dilemma posed in Helen Taylor's quietly powerful book. As a little girl, Taylor adored her dolls, but those feelings did not evolve into that cliche of longing for babies. She reveals a complicated, though loving, relationship with a mother who expressed no wish for her only daughter to follow her down the path of wearisome and consuming motherhood. A friend's home festooned with drying nappies gave the author such a feeling of 'fastidious distaste' that 'I was so glad to return to my orderly childfree flat'. She lists all the tasks mothers (and fathers – but not so many) must tackle as their children grow and schooling becomes more worrisome. You read it thinking guiltily how terrific it might have been to avoid all that stress. The ease of a childfree existence is easy to imagine as she describes a life of friendships, of cultural and political involvement with the world around, of the luck of having an equal life-partner (they did marry in the end) who not only shares her interests but is a brilliant cook. All this is true and convincing – and might even make younger female readers profoundly glad of the contraception that liberated my generation (which is Taylor's) from our mothers' burdens. But this writer is too honest to leave it there, and a careful reader may be left hearing a plangent note of sadness, rather than triumph. Taylor admits that in her 50s she 'had twinges of regret for having chosen a childless route' and has looked wistfully at families enjoying time together. Movingly, she remembers that after her own mother's death she felt 'a deep sadness at having no daughter or son beside me'. Unsurprisingly, she worries about the future and 'I ask myself who I am living for'. She has experienced real depression in trying to come to terms with the residual sadness that stems from her own free choice. Taylor acknowledges that 'we need to keep our precious human race alive and kicking' but her final cry for 'more political, financial, emotional and practical support for mothers' sounds a false note, at odds with the down-to-earth truth of her book. Because let's face it, that is just not going to happen. As ever, women will just get on with it, nappies and all.
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
In new book, Ellen Burstyn reveals the secret that fueled her award-winning career: poetry
Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn has a book coming out next year that reveals how she has been shaped by the power of words. HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Wednesday that Burstyn's 'Poetry Says It Better' will be released April 28, 2026. Burstyn, 93, is known for such films as 'The Last Picture Show' and 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' for which she won an Academy Award; the TV shows 'Political Animals' and 'House of Cards' and the Broadway production 'Same Time, Next Year.' Burstyn's favorite poets include Maya Angelou, Mary Oliver and William Butler Yeats. 'I've been lucky enough to spend my professional life as an actress: I worked as a model and dancer from the day I left high school and eventually reached a pinnacle in my career and won an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards,' Burstyn said in a statement. 'Nevertheless, it is poetry that has fueled and sustained me throughout my career and has been interwoven with every major life milestone I've ever experienced.' Burstyn also is the author of 'Lessons in Becoming Myself,' a memoir published in 2006.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The brutal estrangement from her mother nearly broke her. Now Jennifer Aniston is looking to bury the ghost... with a controversial new role
Jennifer Aniston 's next role might hit uncomfortably close to home. The Friends actor, 56, is gearing up to take the titular role in a streaming adaptation of Jennette McCurdy 's controversially titled memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, that grimly detailed McCurdy living with a 'narcissistic' parent.
Daily Mail
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Paris Hilton takes brutal swipe at Donald Trump years after she 'pretended' to vote for him
Paris Hilton has taken a brutal swipe at Donald Trump... years after she 'pretended' she voted for him. The former reality star, 44, was pressed about her relationship with the President during a recent sit-down with Louis Theroux at Spotify Beach in Cannes, France. She famously showed her support for Trump back in 2016 after the election, stating at the time, 'I've known him since I was a little girl, so, yes [I voted for him].' However, in her memoir years later, she claimed that she had lied about casting her vote for Trump because he was 'an old family friend,' but hadn't actually voted at all. Now, she seemed to poke fun at his looks during her appearance at the Cannes Lions 2025 event on Monday. During her chat with British podcast host Louis, he asked the star what her relationship was like with Trump. 'I only knew him when I was a teenager in New York, that was a long time ago,' Paris explained. 'What was the vibe [back then] - friendly? Warm? Orange?' Louis jokingly went on. Paris then responded with a dig at the businessman-turned-politician's famously over-tanned skin. 'He probably could have used a new spray tanner,' she said with a laugh. In her 2023 book, Paris: The Memoir, Paris opened up about why she lied about voting for Trump in the 2016 election. 'When I was put on the spot in an interview, I pretended I voted for Donald Trump because he was an old family friend and owned the first modeling agency I signed with,' she explained. 'When I left to go to another [modeling] agency, he was furious and intimidated the s**t out of me on the phone. The truth is even worse. I didn't vote at all.' Former real estate tycoon and hotel owner Donald has famously been a longtime friend of the Hilton family. Elsewhere during her interview with Louis, Paris opened up about the infamous sex tape that she made at only 19 years old with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon. It was shared online in 2003 - three years after they filmed it and long after they had gone their separate ways. 'It was the most painful experience I've ever been through in my life,' Paris admitted. 'To trust somebody and have them put something out in the world that no one was supposed to see... and then to have people judge me based on one night with someone I trusted... that's something that will affect me for the rest of my life.' The blonde beauty said the public scrutiny over the tape was 'heartbreaking and devastating,' especially because it came right on the heels of the release of her reality show The Simple Life. 'Back then, the media, the public, everyone was just so cruel to me. It was so heartbreaking and devastating,' she continued. 'I had worked so hard and I wanted to be respected, I was about to come out with my reality show and then all of a sudden this happened to me.' Paris pointed out that now, it is illegal to release sex tapes without the explicit consent of the individuals involved in California. 'Today, that would be illegal. Back then, it wasn't [looked at] that way and I was vilified for it. I was just a teenage girl,' she said. 'Looking back on it, it was one of the most painful things but to know today it's illegal if it happens to other girls, maybe things need to happen to certain people for it to change for others and I try to see it in that way.' Paris then responded with a dig at the businessman-turned-politician's famously over-tanned skin. 'He probably could have used a new spray tanner,' she said with a laugh In her memoir, Paris said she felt 'weird and uncomfortable' about filming herself and Rick 'making love,' but claimed that he ultimately pressured her into doing it. 'It was the most painful experience I've ever been through,' Paris said. 'To trust somebody and have them put something out in the world that no one was supposed to see... that's something that will affect me for the rest of my life.' Rick is seen in 2005 'He had often said it was something he did with other women, but I felt weird and uncomfortable about it. I always told him, "I can't. It's too embarrassing,"' she wrote. 'He told me if I wouldn't do it, he could easily find someone who would, and that was the worst thing I could think of – to be dumped by this grown man because I was a stupid kid who didn't know how to play grown-up games. 'The truth is, I wanted to be alive in a sensual way. I wanted to feel like a woman who's comfortable in her own skin.' She said he vowed that 'no one else would ever see it' and insisted that she would never 'under any circumstances be involved in the production of an amateur teen porn video.' 'If this was something I had chosen to do, I would have owned it,' she stated. 'I would have stood tall in my Louboutins and said, "Yup, that was my choice." 'I would have stood by it, capitalized on it, licensed the f**k out of every frame, and then boogied on over to the bank without apologizing to anyone.'
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
TALK OF THE TOWN: William and Harry agree on one thing - Diana's ex-butler Paul Burrell needs to keep quiet
It's rare that Princes William and Harry see eye-to-eye about anything these days – but the estranged brothers may find common ground in their fury that their mother's ex-butler, Paul Burrell, is about to betray her confidence yet again. The former Palace servant is set to release a third 'intimate' memoir, promising to reveal stories he felt he couldn't share while the late Queen was still alive. But it risks evoking the ire of the Princes, as I'm told Burrell had promised he would stop exploiting his links to the late Princess Diana in a tense meeting with the brothers. Sources tell me all three held a secret summit at Kensington Palace in November 2017 to tackle the issue. 'It was awkward,' one insider said. 'William led the meeting and did all the talking, but Harry was silently seething that Burrell had betrayed their mother for financial gain time and time again. 'Eventually Paul agreed it was time to stop, and he hoped it would be a new chapter in his relationship with the boys.' Yet the man Diana once called her 'rock' seems to have reneged on that deal, with a new book The Royal Insider –with a picture of himself and Diana on the cover – due out in September. The Princes are now bracing themselves for what he might reveal as he vows to 'speak candidly about the tensions that simmered' during his time at the Palace – 'including the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage and his own complex relationship with Princes William and Harry'. Publishers Sphere add: 'It is only in the wake of the Queen's passing... Burrell feels he can finally tell his story in full.' Socialites head to Lola's Bute camp Lady Lola Bute last week hosted her London It Girl pals at her palatial home on Ibiza, including Romeo Beckham's recent ex Kim Turnbull and model Lila Moss. I hear Lady Lola, 25, has also been a consultant on a new TV show, Magnolia Parks, described as a London version of US hit Gossip Girl and based on a book about a 'beautiful, affluent, neurotic and self-involved' socialite. Wonder which of her inner circle she used for inspiration? Will Gibbs fall for his nibs? I suspect Perry Pearson won't be nursing a broken heart for too long after his split from Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner. I hear friends of the heir to the Cowdray estate in Sussex are trying to play Cupid and set him up with socialite and horse racing presenter Flora Gibbs. So has Perry asked her out on a date yet? 'No comment,' Flora tells me with a knowing smile while partying at the Boodles Boxing Ball last weekend. Watch this space… Brooklyn's ex gets cosy with polo ace Does Hana Cross, the ex-girlfriend of Brooklyn Beckham, have her sights set on another well-connected man? I hear the glamorous model was seen looking cosy and chatting animatedly last week with Polo England captain Tommy Severn at Polo in the Park in Fulham. Hana has become a bit of an amateur polo player herself, saddling up at the illustrious Guards Polo club in Windsor Great Park last month. Severn, who used to play polo with Prince Harry and formerly dated footballer Michael Owen's daughter Gemma, recently told me how he thought his royal pal's heavily lambasted Netflix documentary Polo was 'very weird'. I wonder if he's ever invited Hana for a chukka? Jackie goes posh Even Cruz Beckham admits he can sometimes get his Brazilian girlfriend Jackie Apostel, 30, and his mother Victoria confused due to their uncanny resemblance. So I wonder what the 20-year-old aspiring musician will make of Jackie sporting a fresh dark bob strikingly reminiscent of Posh's hairstyle from her 1990s Spice Girls heyday. Surely a case of when Two Become One! Superstar DJ Calvin Harris's plans to build a padel court at his £6 million Cotswolds property have been held up by (no pun intended) bats. The palatial pile is home to so many of the protected mammals that Harris must build an outbuilding to house them before any work on the court can begin. His ambitious plans for the house also include a reflection pool, hot yoga studio, sunken firepit, teepee and campfire.
