More heartache than Hamnet?: Maggie O’Farrell’s best books – ranked!

As her Women’s prize-winning novel heads to the Oscars, we rate the author’s best work – from tales of new motherhood to a life-affirming memoir of mortality

The ghost of a previous lover is always a challenge, particularly if you (mistakenly) believe that she’s actually dead. This is the unenviable situation for Lily, the protagonist of O’Farrell’s second novel, who is swept off her feet by dashing architect Marcus and in short order moves in with him. Lily takes his assurances that her predecessor Sinead is “no longer with us” to mark a more permanent absence; in fact, Sinead has simply been thrown over, and it is in the details of the collapse of her relationship with Marcus that the novel most engages. Hints of the gothic ghost story deepen one of the main takeaways, which is that Marcus consists almost entirely of red flags.

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Highguard First Impressions: No More Heroes

Despite a few fresh ideas, Highguard feels like an experience you’ve had before. That isn’t necessarily bad — most games today look and feel like some other game. But in the PvP hero shooter genre, already saturated with the likes of Overwatch, Apex, Marvel Rivals, and Valorant, where games live and die by their active player numbers, it leaves a new title like ...

Apple Tipped to Adopt Samsung’s Privacy Display Technology for MacBook Models by 2029

Samsung's Privacy Display feature is expected to be available in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. While we wait for the launch of the new Galaxy S26 series, a well-known tipster states that Apple’s MacBook lineup will feature this technology by 2029. The solution is expected to offer a customisable privacy experience for users. It will help prevent shoulder surfing in buses, e...