© Peter W. Stevenson for The New York Times
Two brothers attempt to escape their father’s gangland past in a tense, tender debut that moves between Thatcher-era Northumberland and southern Spain
Andalucía is famous for its variety: high alpine mountains and snow-capped peaks, river plains and rolling olive groves, sun-baked coastlines and arid deserts. It is the perfect setting for Neil Rollinson’s debut novel, which is its own kind of spectacular mosaic. Built from short, seemingly discrete chapters that take us between Spain in 2003 and the coalfields of Northumberland in the 70s and 80s, The Dead Don’t Bleed coheres into an extraordinarily tense and tender portrait of two brothers trying to escape their father’s gangland past.
Until now, Rollinson has been known as a poet; his collection Talking Dead was shortlisted for the 2015 Costa poetry prize. Here he brings his talent for compressed evocation to an exploration of fraternal rivalry and the enduring impact of a violent patriarchy. If you took Frank and his brother Gordon apart on the autopsy table, he writes, “you’d find the same bones, the same blood. Almost everything interchangeable. The corkscrews of DNA, the cells, the posture, the downcast glance.” But from a young age, change is afoot within Frank. He knows his father has “high hopes for him” in the family business of petty crime: “Frank Bridge. King of Northumberland”. But Frank wants to be a different kind of king. He carries within himself a “yearning for something more expansive” – the kind of dream that could get him killed in his family’s closed world of criminal secrecy.
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© Photograph: underworld/Shutterstock
© Photograph: underworld/Shutterstock
© Photograph: underworld/Shutterstock
Whether Vinted’s to blame or TikTok’s to thank, people are flocking back to car parks in search of secondhand bargains. How did the car boot get hip again?
It’s a crisp Sunday morning in south-west London. Tucked within rows of terrace houses, the playground of a primary school has been transformed into an outdoor treasure trove. Tables are filled with stacks of books and board games; clothes hang from metal racks or are piled into boxes which are strewn over a hopscotch. It’s the 10am opening of Balham car boot sale. A modest queue filters through the entrance: families, pensioners, fashion influencers, TikTokers.
Three friends – Dominique Gowie, Abbie Mitchell (both 25 years old) and Affy Chowdhury (26) – arrived an hour earlier, to set up. They are selling at a car boot for the first time, enticed by the growing hype circulating on social media. “If you go out and say: ‘Oh I bought this at the car boot,’ I think it’s actually cooler than saying I bought this on Asos,” says Dominique.
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© Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Guardian
© Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Guardian
© Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Guardian
Power problem and stuck vehicle shuttle halted seasonal rail travel between UK and the continent on Tuesday
Eurostar said it plans to run a full service on Wednesday but warned of possible knock-on disruptions after a power supply issue halted Channel tunnel train trips connecting London to the European mainland.
Travellers making journeys in the busy run-up to the new year were left scrambling to find alternatives after the operator postponed all services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.
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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Raye, Deftones and Yungblud do UK tours, Jill Scott returns for more neo-soul, and the classical world gears up to celebrate Hungarian composer György Kurtág at 100
• More from the 2026 culture preview
Seventeen years on from the release of her debut single, Florence Welch finds herself in an intriguingly strong position: while most of her early 00s indie peers are forgotten or in reduced circumstances, she is a major influence on pop, from Ethel Cain to the Last Dinner Party to Chappell Roan. Her recent album Everybody Scream was a strong restatement of her theatrical approach – with more light and shade than you might expect – but it’s on stage that she really comes into her own.
• UK tour begins 6 February at the SSE Arena, Belfast
© Composite: Guardian
© Composite: Guardian
© Composite: Guardian
Rent rises likely to slow after rapid increases in recent years, lenders and estate agents forecast
First-time buyers are expected to drive the UK housing market in 2026, with further interest rate cuts likely to improve stretched affordability.
The for-sale market should accelerate moderately, with prices rising by 2% to 4%, while rent rises are likely to slow from the rapid increases of recent years, according to lenders and estate agents.
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© Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
© Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
© Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
For those not going out to celebrate, you can still party with Harry and Sally, play cards with Jack Lemmon and make merry hell at the Overlook Hotel
At the end of any especially troublesome year it’s always good to revisit The Apartment, Billy Wilder’s brilliantly bleak comedy of office politics and festive bad cheer. It memorably ends on the stroke of midnight as heartsick Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) abandons a drunken new year’s party to be with hapless, jobless CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) instead. Is The Apartment suggesting that Kubelik and Baxter then live happily ever after? Probably not, because I’ve never been convinced that these two lovers are going to stay the course. They’re too mismatched and desperate; their wounds are still too fresh. What the ending gives us is the next best thing: a sudden sense of hope and freedom, with everything packed in boxes except for a bottle, two glasses and a deck of cards. Nothing to lose and nowhere to go. “Shut up and deal.” A clean break, a fresh start. Xan Brooks
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© Photograph: RONALD GRANT
© Photograph: RONALD GRANT
© Photograph: RONALD GRANT
I have no interest in defending his social media posts, but calls to strip the newly freed activist of British citizenship pile torment on top of torture
What is the proper punishment for hateful social media posts? Should you lose your account? Your job? Your citizenship? Go to jail? Die? For the people who have launched a campaign against the British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, no punishment is too great.
I have no interest in defending the awful tweets in question, which Abd el-Fattah posted in the early 2010s. Many are indefensible and he has apologised “unequivocally” for them. He has also written movingly about how his perspective has changed in the intervening years. Years that have included more than a decade in jail, most of it in Egypt’s notorious Tora prison where he faced torture; missing his son’s entire childhood – and very nearly dying during a months-long hunger strike.
Naomi Klein is a Guardian US columnist and contributing writer. She is the professor of climate justice and co-director of the Centre for Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia
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© Photograph: Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
You may think you know how to make garlic bread. But have you made this garlic bread?
Once upon a time, an ex and I used to throw an annual party – a non-chic affair with a recycling bin full of ice and bottles – where the star, and the thing that everyone really came for, was the garlic bread: 10 or 15 loaves of the stuff, always demolished while still dangerously hot from the oven. I believe the original recipe was Nigel Slater’s; this is my tweaked version.
Prep 15 min
Cook 25 min
Makes 1 loaf
© Photograph: Robert Billington/The Guardian. Food styling: Loic Parisot.
© Photograph: Robert Billington/The Guardian. Food styling: Loic Parisot.
© Photograph: Robert Billington/The Guardian. Food styling: Loic Parisot.
Retailers say appetite for alcoholic drinks that are about half the strength of the traditional versions is soaring
Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations often used to result in a hangover the next day, but with moderation now the order of the day the new drinks industry buzzword is “coasting”.
This involves choosing a white wine, lager or even a cocktail that is about half the strength of the traditional version of the drink – meaning you can have the same number of drinks without feeling the worse for wear.
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© Photograph: ClarkandCompany/Getty Images
© Photograph: ClarkandCompany/Getty Images
© Photograph: ClarkandCompany/Getty Images
From moules marinière to scallop, bacon and garlic butter rolls, here’s how to cast your culinary net wider and embrace more sustainable species
For a nation surrounded by water, Britain’s seafood tastes are remarkably parochial – we mostly eat cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns. But with a huge range of species out there, making the decision to swap the “big five” for more sustainable options could be a good new year resolution to aim for. Here are five species to consider – and if you’re worried these won’t taste as good as cod and chips, we’ve rounded up a selection of top chefs to tell you how to make the best of what could be on your plate in 2026.
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© Photograph: Ed Ovenden/Rockfish
© Photograph: Ed Ovenden/Rockfish
© Photograph: Ed Ovenden/Rockfish
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