Indice dei contenuti per Issue 685 in Grazia

1 PATCH PERFECT SWAP YOUR JEANS for these Lana trousers. The high-rise fit is super-flattering, the oversized pockets super-handy. £260, Isabel Marant Étoile (matchesfashion.com) 2 TANKED UP TANK TOPS ARE back. Tuck into your high-waisted trousers for instant chic. £75, J Crew (jcrew.com) 3 KEEP IT CLASSIC IF IT AIN’T broke don’t fix it; maybe just update it. Case in point: these belted jeans and voluminous sleeve shirt. Shirt, £59.95, jeans, £49.95, both Massimo Dutti (massimodutti.com) 4 GLOW GETTER OBSESSED WITH Instagram’s Sunbeam filter? Lancôme Bronze & Glow Powder in It’s Time to Glow, £42, is as close as you’ll get to it IRL. 5 MICRO TREND COIN NECKLACES ARE trending right now. Get onboard with this Missoma x Lucy Williams one – on point and at a great price…

I WENT to a local summer street festival on Sunday, which is as close as I’ll get to going to an actual festival, what with my aversion to fields, live music, ‘spirituality’, techno crusties, no-bra tasselled-up Snapchat girls, and so on. It was nice, my street festival. Cliché. But nice. The sun shone (a bit). The middle classes got moist-eyed about ‘community’. There were sound systems (but never mind). Mums in designer army jackets Instagrammed everything; dads wandered about in sparkly face paint, their shirts barely buttoned over torsos yogafied to abstraction, which didn’t look as hot as one might hope. I sporadically took charge of a number of young children who kept asking me for money, which I gave them, then pretended not to notice when they scuttled off…

PHOTOS: MATT WRITTLE/EVENING STANDARD/EYEVINE, INSTAGRAM/GINAMARTIN IN THE HOUSE of Commons, Tory MP Christopher Chope shouted ‘object’ last week. On the face of it, this is something that happens every day. It only takes one MP (of 650) to object to a private member’s bill, pushing it back and giving it far less chance of making it into law. But this time it was my motion, to outlaw the distressing practice of upskirting – taking a picture up a woman’s skirt without her knowledge or consent – that was being tabled. His one-word utterance threatened to derail nearly a year of campaigning, after I was upskirted. Last July, I was with my sister at the British Summer Time Festival, waiting for The Killers to take the stage, when a man –…

Last week, the first lady stepped on to a private jet to visit a children’s shelter in Texas wearing an army green £29 Zara jacket emblazoned with white graffiti that read: ‘I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’ Cue a media storm: the verdict on her fashion choice unanimous in its brutal put-down. ‘Heartless’, ‘insensitive’, ‘cruel’… this was apparently a woman as far removed from the children held in cages and their migrant families riven apart by her husband’s immigration policy as it was possible to get. ‘It’s just a jacket,’ said Stephanie Grisham, her communications director. ‘There is no hidden message.’ Well no, the message was very clear to see; flaunted not obscured. Then Trump took to Twitter, directly contradicting this position: ‘I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’ written on…

“YOU CAN USE AWKWARDNESS AS A SUPERPOWER TO GET WHAT YOU WANT” PHOTOS: ANDREEA BOGDAN/TLP, CELESTE SLOMAN A COUPLE OF summers ago, I broke a basic social norm of city life: I talked to strangers on the train. To the teen sitting to my right one evening, who had opted to listen to loud music on his phone without the use of earbuds, I asked: ‘What are you listening to?’ To the woman sitting to my left one morning, who was reading Gone Girl, I said: ‘That book is so good, isn’t it?’ To the man sitting across from me, who was holding what looked like a large picture frame wrapped in brown paper, I asked: ‘Whatcha got there?’ For my day job, I cover psychology for The Cut, which…

PHOTO: KATIE WILSON/DAILY MAIL/SOLO SYNDICATION “IF I COULDN’T BE A MUM, WHAT WOULD MY LIFE LOOK LIKE? WAS IT A LIFE I EVEN WANTED?” TERRIFIED OF failing again, I set out from Dover in the dark, overcome by jellyfish stings, seasickness and swimming against the tide. It was 17 hours 44 minutes and 30 seconds of pain, followed by extraordinary euphoria when eventually I landed in France. After 11 failed IVF attempts, this cross-Channel swim felt like my version of giving birth. I sometimes feel ashamed of admitting that I put my womb through so much. But it’s a symbol of the despair and desperation that my pursuit of motherhood took me to. I’d spent my twenties trying not to get pregnant. I’d gone to university, climbed the career ladder,…

PHOTOGR APHS TOM ANDREW FASHION POLLY KNIGHT SHOPPING SOPHIE HENDERSON COURTS 2.0 THE MOST CLASSIC OF SHOES HAS BEEN GIVEN A STYLE UPGRADE WITH SCULPTURAL SHAPES AND ADDED FRILLS WHITE HOT BRIGHT WHITE IS THE ULTIMATE PALETTE CLEANSER – AND THE EASY WAY TO GIVE YOUR OUTFIT A SUMMER ZING MAKE SHAPES THIS SEASON’S BAGS GET A GEOMETRIC UPDATE – SWAP YOUR RECTANGLES FOR TRIANGLES IN BLOCK SHADES GO HANDS-FREE A CROSS-BODY IS THE HEIGHT OF PRACTICALITY – BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN COMPROMISING ON LOOKS WEST IS BEST COWBOY BOOTS ARE BACK, RIDING INTO TOWN ON THE WESTERN TREND. WEAR THEM WITH SUMMER DRESSES NATURAL WONDERS NATURAL BAMBOO, ROPE AND RAFFIA IN NEUTRAL TONES CHIME WITH A LAID-BACK HOLIDAY VIBE BRING A BUCKET TRADE YOUR TOTE FOR A BUCKET TO…

At the heart of many Eastern traditions lies a sense of ritual – time should be spent nurturing, nourishing and ultimately looking after the body in as many ways as possible. ‘It’s crucial to stop, breathe and take a moment for yourself,’ says Katie Brindle. Introduce rituals into your life… MASSAGE… away stress, tension and inflammation and boost circulation, collagen and elastin with Hayo’u’s jade massage tool. Apply a face oil over skin, like Uma’s Deeply Clarifying Face Oil, £98, and sweep the jade over the face, outwards and upwards. APPLY PRESSURE… to certain parts of the face to help shift toxins and take the stress away. Firmly press the sides of the nose and hold your thumb on your chin to relax the jaw area. TAKE A BATH… after…

PHOTOS: JASON LLOYD-EVANS. CHANTECAILLE: SPACENK.COM. LIME CRIME: CULTBEAUTY.CO.UK. MAC: MACCOSMETICS.CO.UK. MODELS OWN: MODELSOWNIT.COM . STILA: STILA.CO.UK. TOPSHOP: TOPSHOP.COM. YSL BEAUTY: YSLBEAUTY.CO.UK ABANDON ANY ’70 S DISCO connotations – the new glitter make-up is as sophisticated as it is wearable. It dominated the S/S ’18 shows, from vertical lines of silver over eyes at Anna Sui, to eyelashes artfully dipped in loose glitter at Ryan Lo. At Topshop, make-up artist Lynsey Alexander used ‘shiny lipsticks to bind loose glitter on to the lash line and outer corners of the eye’ for a coating of shimmer. Her advice? ‘Don’t go overboard. If eyes are the focus, keep everything else minimal.’ Luckily, clever new formulations make achieving the look foolproof. Lynsey suggests painting Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow over lids before gently…

GOCHUJANG Street-food introduced us to Korean cuisine and its fantastic flavours. Now, the sweetly spicy gochujang paste has made it on to restaurant menus and into our kitchens. It’s a brilliant red paste made from fermented soy beans, glutinous rice and Korean red pepper powder. Add it to sauces, dips, marinades, soups and stews to give your usual dishes a delicious Korean twist. You can find it in Asian stores as well as at Sainsbury’s and Ocado. PHOTOGRAPHS: HAARALA HAMILTON WHOLE ROAST GOCHUJANG CHICKEN WITH RADISH AND POMELO SLAW Feeds: 4-6 Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 1 hour – 1 hour 20 minutes INGREDIENTS 3 tbsp gochujang Generous drizzle of sesame oil 1 free-range corn-fed chicken, around 1.5-1.8kg 2 limes, cut in half ½ pint of Korean beer Radish and pomelo…

PHOTOS: PRESS ASSOCIATION Susan Calman’s Mrs Brightside Comedian, actress and writer Susan Calman (pictured) explores depression with wit and warmth in a new BBC pod. Each week Susan and her guests will discuss their shared experiences, personal anecdotes and funny stories, while tackling topics that can be difficult to speak about. Personal Best Turning tiny goals into grand adventures – while being very funny. Whether it’s the action movie fan who wants to land a backflip, or the woman who just cannot lie, the team help people achieve their personal best. Keep It Host and critic Ira Madison III (below with Kara Brown) and co-hosts discuss the latest pop culture news – and decide what needs the ‘Keep It’ treatment (ie isn’t something we should all have to bothered by).…

POROWSKI’S decadent dining YAS! Queer Eye’s dreamy food and wine expert Antoni Porowski has revealed he is opening his own ‘fast-casual food concept restaurant’ in New York, where he lives. ‘I’m all about cheese and pork belly and decadence,’ he said. Sign. Us. Up. GO BANANAS for bikinis DIAL UP poolside glamour in Charlotte Olympia’s new swimwear collection, created in collaboration with Brazilian designer Adriana Degreas. Expect retro silhouettes and bold prints* . From £263, charlotteolympia.com PRIME MINISTER’S maternity time CONGRATULATIONS TO New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who last week gave birth to a girl, making her the second elected leader in modern history to give birth while in office. ‘Welcome to our village wee one,’ said Jacinda in an Instagram announcement. MR BECKHAM’S ready for a barbie!…

PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK, TWITTER/MALALA YOUSAFZAI, INSTAGRAM/MISSVARZ MOST NOBEL PRIZE-WINNERS got to go to university a) before they became famous and b) before smartphone cameras, YouTube and Facebook were around to record their every embarrassing misstep. Not Malala Yousafzai. The activist – who was shot by the Taliban in 2012, recovered from horrendous injuries, then went on to ace her A levels – started at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, last September. And, despite the fact she has two bodyguards with her at all times because of death threats, Malala seems to have had a really normal, fun first year. While studying philosophy, politics and economics, she’s ‘learned how to dance like Beyoncé’, ‘enjoyed late-night takeaways’, joined (among others) the cricket and Pakistan societies. But it’s her election as social co-secretary – in…

LET’S SHOUT ABOUT OUR ACHIEVEMENTS It’s a bold move: tweeting a prospective employer to tell them why they should consider you for a role. But it paid off for journalist Samira Ahmed after she threw her hat into the ring for the role of Question Time host, following David Dimbleby’s resignation. Last week, she tweeted the BBC: ‘I have 2 awards for journalism, 28 years in the broadcast news biz… I’m v well qualified to present @bbcquestiontime & I’d like to be seriously considered.’ Later, she revealed she was being considered. Her move is a life lesson to us all. Shout about our achievements and who knows what doors will open? If you don’t step forward, you’re never going to be in the game.…

THEY WERE PERHAPS the most explosive rumours ever to hit the Beckhams: that, after 19 years of marriage, the couple were on the cusp of announcing divorce. But in the two-and-a-half weeks since speculation of an impending split spread across social media like wildfire, Victoria has maintained a steadfast silence on the state of her marriage (at the time, a spokesperson labelled the rumours a ‘crock of shit’). All that changed last week, though, when the 43-year-old gave one of the most candid and emotional insights into the struggle she faces to balance her marriage, children and fashion business. Speaking at the Forbes Women’s Summit in New York, the designer voiced the difficulties that many working mothers face when she said, ‘Like most women, I beat myself up. I’m trying…

AFTER COUNTLESS false starts (Is it here yet? Isn’t it? Will it ever be?), summer, it seems, has finally decided to show up this week. So, yes, the sun’s ready – but are you? Because weird in-between weather (as we’ve been experiencing for the past few weeks) = weird in-between clothes, and chances are you haven’t really committed to sorting your summer wardrobe yet. Pack away your knits, it’s time to hit the panic stations. Except, hang on a second. While all those colours and prints and smocks and sandals can be overwhelming, the savviest shopper would tell you that it’s not actually necessary to embark on a complete overhaul. Instead, think about refreshing your look with a few key pieces that can transform your perennial favourites into something scorching…

PHOTOS:THE SUN/NEWS LICENSING, INSTAGRAM.COM/BECKYVARDY TWELVE YEARS HAVE passed since the legendary 2006 WAGs’ World Cup, when the players of the England football team and their partners descended en masse on the sleepy German spa town of Baden-Baden. Back then, the WAGs, who included Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole and Coleen Rooney, made front-page news throughout the tournament, in part thanks to their veritable mass of exotic plumage – hair extensions, fake tan, silicone-enhanced breasts, skin-tight bandage dresses and sky-high heels. Times have changed. As the cameras panned to the family section of the stadium at England’s opening World Cup game last week, we saw a lower-key bunch, with babies being bounced on knees. But our obsession with them continues. For Rebekah Vardy, 36-year-old wife of England striker Jamie Vardy, this World…

WHEN THOMAS MARKLE broke his silence on breakfast television last week, there was a collective gasp. Over at Kensington Palace, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their aides – who had no prior knowledge of the interview – hurriedly braced themselves for yet another media storm. Meghan’s father is said to have received £7,500 for the interview on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, and was allowed to pre-approve the questions. Thomas was said to have had last-minute nerves about going public the day after Father’s Day, but the 73-year-old retired lighting director went on to talk frankly about his love and admiration for Meghan and Harry and how he cried watching their wedding. Astonishingly, Thomas also revealed intimate details about his private phone conversations with…

SHOPPING: SOPHIE HENDERSON. PHOTOS: CATWALKING.. COM WHEN PHOEBE PHILO’S departure from Céline was announced in December, her loyal Philophiles were as bereft at losing the marble-tiled floors, FOS glassware and Sabine Marcelis polyester resin plinths that populated her stores as they were the clothes. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Because while staying in isn’t quite the new going out, it might just be the new dressing up. From quilts on the Calvin Klein catwalk to Gucci’s foray into interiors to Virgil Abloh’s hotter-than-hot Ikea collaboration (out next year), there’s a palpable synergy between interiors and fashion right now. ‘It’s important to be surrounded by creativity, both with fashion and homes,’ explain the Peter Pilotto duo, who recently expanded their own repertoire to include poufy shearling stools and offbeat glassware.…

WHILE OUR DEFINITION of what constitutes ‘oversharing’ has softened over time, posting pictures of our kids on social media continues to ignite fierce debate. Last month, midwife-turned-blogger Clemmie Hooper, who posts as @motherofdaughters, felt the wrath of Mumsnet, as users criticised her for ‘cashing in’ on her girls by using them in promotional Instagram posts. The vitriol was so extreme that Clemmie temporarily quit social media. She’s not alone in having a change of heart on sharenting. Earlier this month, Kylie Jenner deleted all the images she’d posted of her five-month-old daughter Stormi. And it’s not just mums taking umbrage. Seriously throwing their toys out of the pram are the teenagers suing their parents for invasion of privacy for sharing photos of them. In 2016, French authorities advised parents to…

Forget your best selfie pose, it’s all about the ‘shoefie’ now, according to Sophia Webster. Know this name: Daniel Lee. The ex-Céline ready-to-wear director is set to make Bottega Veneta the thinking woman’s new favourite. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES. SOPHIA WEBSTER, 86 SLOANE AVENUE, LONDON SW3, OPENS 27 JUNE. ‘RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE’ IS AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX FROM FRIDAY. GILESSØLVEKATIE (£50, LAURENCE KING PUBLISHING) IS OUT NOW Collaborate! New book GilesSølveKatie celebrates the work of Giles Deacon, photographer Sølve Sundsbø and super-stylist Katie Grand. Don’t miss the eleganza extravaganza of the RuPaul’s Drag Race finale (google Aquaria for this season’s most major looks). Celebrate Virgil. The holographic bags, floral windbreakers and rainbow brights from Mr Abloh’s knockout Louis Vuitton debut are future collectables. And see the show’s stylist, Christine Centenera, for a…

BANISH ALL images of baggy tees and boring leggings, Primark’s latest fitness collection is bringing the cool to breaking a sweat. Starring graphic print leggings, printed sports bras and pared-back tops, these easy to wear pieces make working out a breeze (well, almost). No wonder they already have the stamp of approval from the women who know, like Insta fitness star and personal trainer, Alice Liveing. Not that you have to be a fitness fanatic to be fanatical about the collection. Designed to flatter a wide range of bodies (thanks to the muted colour palette, clever cuts and functional materials), these look-good, feel-good pieces will get your endorphins pumping in – or out – of the gym. Don’t know your squats from your lunges? Fear not. Stylish design details (we…

PHOTO: SIMONE BRAMANTE VIEW POINT Viale dei Cipressi, Tuscany The Boulevard of Cypresses is a 5km straight road that’s flanked by 2,540 ancient cypress trees. It leads to the historic and charming village of Bolgheri in the heart of one of Italy’s prestige wine areas. Visit the fairy-tale style castle, then pull up a seat at one of the village enotecas (wine bars) and tuck into rustic Tuscan fare accompanied by delicious local wines.…

Take Me In Sabine Durrant (£12.99, MULHOLLAND BOOKS) How can you ever repay someone who saves your child’s life? Especially if they seem to want everything in return? Tessa and Marcus are, of course, incredibly grateful when Dave Jepsom saves the life of their son when he almost drowns on holiday. But, after spending time away with Dave, he seems to follow them home and the couple become convinced he’s stalking them. But is he just the final straw in a marriage cracked by secrets and insecurities? Meant as nothing but a compliment, Take Me In is the perfect beach read.…

Kelly Brook’s comments angered me. I’m back at work on flexitime after maternity leave and I work harder and more efficiently now because being a mother has taught me how to use every minute wisely. I still have the same ambitions and I’m dedicated. However, my child comes first. If something happened where I needed to leave 20 minutes early, I don’t think I should be accused of ‘using my baby as an excuse’. Angelique PHOTOS: MARCO VITTUR BY SUBMITTING YOUR LETTER,YOU ARE CONSENTING TO OUR USE OF YOUR FEEDBACK ACROSS ALL GRAZIA CHANNELS, INCLUDING OUR WEBSITE, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK,TWITTER, OR FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE THAT WE MAY CHOOSE AND THAT WE WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO MAKE ANY PAYMENT TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THIS USE AND THAT YOU HAVE…

PHOTOS: PA, GETTY IMAGES, MEGA AGENCY, SWNS.. COM 1 UP ZAYN MALIK Expressed something close to political ambition in an interview last week. ‘Maybe. It’d be cool,’ he said, when asked about potentially running for office in California. Malik for Pres. 2. NEW IN DR ALEX Reluctantly, and despite our firmest intentions, we find ourselves sucked into the Love Island vortex. Like many of its viewers, we are v v concerned re Dr Alex’s sunburn. Can you spell ‘SPF’, young man? 3 UP SABRINA DHOWRE Former beauty queen fiancée of Idris Elba. Gave good royal wedding guest. Then, just last week, gave equally good lolling about on a yacht moored off Ibiza. 4. NEW IN ALISHA BOE We actually haven’t been sucked into the 13 Reasons Why (season 2 now…

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES, INSTAGRAM/VICTORIA BECKHAM Can there be such a thing as trying too hard when you’re a working mother? Hearing Victoria Beckham describe the pressure she puts on herself to be not just the ‘best mother’ to her four children but also the ‘best wife and the best professional’ this week, you had to wonder. But she’s hardly the only one spinning a lot of plates. Last week, singer Jessie Ware confessed that juggling music with a one-year-old is a ‘constant struggle’, despite her husband taking time out from working when their daughter was born. ‘I think mothers have an inherent guilt that is different from fathers when it comes to work and being ambitious,’ she said. Even presenter Fiona Bruce admitted to a ‘fair dose of working mother…

CUE MELODIC UKULELE music, pour yourself a piña colada and hop into a hammock immediately, because the holiday fave, the Hawaiian shirt, is back and begging to be part of your summer wardrobe. The latest dad fad to go from cringe to cool, the zesty Hawaiian shirt was out in force at the menswear shows in Milan last week. Show-goers wore them with baggy shorts, bum-bags, and socks with sandals for a full dad-on-vacay effect, though we recommend teaming yours with high-waisted skirts in a clashing print (verrry Prada). Or try with yellow lenses and a bucket hat for full-on Johnny Depp in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas vibes (that’s a good thing, FYI). The Hawaiian shirt has swagger (see a brooding Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet), grounded…

‘Before I interviewed Thomas Markle, I wasn’t that impressed with him, because of what he did leading up to the wedding – especially as the Palace and Harry had issued a statement asking the media to leave him alone. But after our extensive interview on Good Morning Britain, I changed my mind. Thomas is just a regular, decent guy who has been left in this, quite frankly, bizarre situation. He is a caring father who has been left out on a limb by the Palace, Harry and Meghan to fend on his own. I don’t know why they haven’t seen him – they are multimillionaires, the pair of them! I would get over to see him, speak to him, provide him with a burly security guard. They need to put…

SHAILENE WOODLEY shouldn’t have been in the biggest TV show of last year. After high-profile roles in The Fault In Our Stars and Divergent, she wanted to explore a ‘different avenue’ – college, perhaps. So when she was sent the script for Big Little Lies, she politely declined. Then she found out who was involved: co-producers Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, as well as Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Alexander Skarsgård. Unsurprisingly, college took a back seat. It was the right choice: the show became one of the most talked-about and commercially successful series of 2017 (an average of seven million viewers per episode). Shailene calls me from Monterey, where the cast is filming the second instalment (joined by Meryl Streep). Frustratingly, she declines to say anything about what will…

MODEL WEARS (LEFT PAGE): GREEN DRESS, £25.99, ZARA (ZARA.COM), SUNGLASSES, £12, ASOS (ASOS.COM). RIGHT PAGE: BLACK HAT, £19.99, MANGO (MANGO.COM), KNIT DRESS, £28, ASOS (ASOS.COM) WELCOME TO THE high summer issue of the fashionistas’ best friend – yes, it’s the Shoespaper, brought to you by Grazia and OFFICE. After much intensive research into our favourite subject, we can reveal all you need to know to curate the perfect summer 2018 shoedrobe. Trends with vintage vibes (think ’60s platforms, ’70s espadrilles, ’90s mules) make a welcome return – and the Grazia fashion team reveal how they’ll be styling their top picks. Plus, we reveal one of summer’s biggest shoe stories: metallics. Discover why bronze, silver and gold are wardrobe winners, perfect for day and night. Summer calls for a laid-back vibe…

ELIXI: ELIXIBEAUTY.COM. KOHL KREATIVES: KOHLKREATIVES.COM. HOURGLASS: HARVEYNICHOLS.COM. IT COSMETICS: ITCOSMETICS.CO.UK. MYKITCO: MYKITCO.CO.UK. REAL TECHNIQUES: SUPERDRUG.COM. SPECTRUM: SPECTRUMCOLLECTIONS.COM. ZOEVA: ZOEVACOSMETICS.COM “FORGET THAT SPONGY APPLICATOR THAT CAME FREE IN YOUR PALETTE” MAKE-UP BRUSHES used to be a bit of a one-size-fits-all situation (think face, eyes and lips), and when there wasn’t a suitable brush for the occasion, it was fingers all the way. But that’s changing, thanks to a new wave of highly intelligent and techy tools that put the power into your hands and promote the DIY beauty revolution. Think everything from bristles infused with skincare ingredients to innovative crimped designs that prevent product fallout. So, forget that spongy eyeshadow applicator that came free in your palette and invest wisely in these face-finessing finds… BASE 1 CLEVER CONTOURING ZOEVA 098 LUXE…

Q‘I’m off to northern California. Obviously, San Fran and LA are on my must-see list, but where else should be on my radar? HIKE THE BIG SUR By Jamie Sandwiched between mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Big Sur is home to some of the most stunning landscapes in North America. The coastal redwoods are among the tallest trees on Earth and, when you gaze up, you’ll see huge Californian condors and peregrine falcons (aka the world’s fastest bird). Andrew Molera State Park at the mouth of the Big Sur River offers 3-5km hikes through meadows, across beaches and along sweeping coastal paths (keep your eyes out for a glimpse of blue whales late April to early December). For a more leisurely hike, head to McWay Falls in nearby Julia Pfeiffer…

The Husband’s Secret Liane Moriarty (£8.99, PENGUIN) What would you do if you found a letter in the attic, addressed to you, from your husband – to be opened in the event of his death? Obviously, read it. But what Cecilia discovers rocks her world – she wants to do the right thing, but it will hurt everyone she loves most. Another masterclass from the author of Big Little Lies. The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes (£7.99, HARPERCOLLINS) Gruesome, terrifying and page-turningly good – everything you need for the sunlounger. Harper stalks ‘the shining girls’ through the decades – so what will he do when one, Kirby, gets away? And how will she fight back when the evidence suggests her hunter shouldn’t even exist? Eileen Ottessa Moshfegh (£8.99, VINTAGE) Spending her…

IN THE OPENING EPISODE of season two of GLOW, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling charge themselves with making a title sequence for their doomed fight-night TV spectacular. GLOW is in the classic tradition of let’s-put-on-a-show drama. It’s A Chorus Line in the wrestling ring. In season one, drug-addled sleazeball director Sam assembled a cast-list of washed-up actresses and lapdancers to translate for primetime telly, scrapping for their lives in new fictional personae. Season two is what happens when they go on air. The Gorgeous Ladies, probably the best panoply female cast since Orange Is The New Black (and considerably less bleak than The Handmaid’s Tale), head to the mall to gather their footage. ‘We shot some rad stuff today,’ says new cameraman and potential love interest, Phil. ‘Do you think…

Regarding Can the mums vs non-mums divide ever be fixed? (25 June), can we please stop judging each other! As an employed single mum, I worked my butt off doing my level best to keep up with child-free colleagues. Everyone has stuff going on in their lives that they have to weave their jobs around – not just children. Flexible working practices across the board would make life easier, but judging each other on the basis of whether you have kids is damaging and regressive. In the 1950s, my mother had to give up her job when she married – that’s what was expected. Women have so many more choices now about what we can do – let’s not spoil what’s been achieved. Deborah Scarrott…