A gently humorous take on the modern world - from the pitfalls of knicker-envy to the weaponising of email sign-offs

Screams is Ysenda Maxtone Graham's idiosyncratic and gently funny take on the modern world. She pinpoints all those small things that irritate, but which have a disproportionate effect on our wellbeing (for example, agonising waits for HMRC while stuck in a loop playing the Four Seasons; deep-seated recycling fears; friends that gaslight you with too many xxxs) and also takes pleasure in the small victories that bring surprising joy (lunch from leftovers and finding a miraculous parking space against all odds).

'Screams is as sharp as holly, and as sparkling as fairy lights... it's bound to find its way into many a Christmas stocking' Mail on Sunday

'The beauty of this book is its specificity... Graham has successfully and with wit translated into precise words the minutiae of everyday life' The Times

The beauty of this book is its specificity... Graham has successfully and with wit translated into precise words the minutiae of everyday life * The Times *
Screams is as sharp as holly, and as sparkling as fairy lights. Merrily decorated by Nick Newman's cartoons, it's bound to find its way into many a Christmas stocking * Mail on Sunday *

Ysenda Maxtone Graham was born in 1962 and educated at The King's School, Canterbury and Girton College, Cambridge. She has written for many newspapers and magazines as a features writer, book reviewer and columnist. She is the author of six books: The Church Hesitant: A Portrait of the Church of England Today; The Real Mrs Miniver, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Biography of the Year Award; Mr Tibbits's Catholic School; An Insomniac's Guide to the Small Hours; Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls' Boarding Schools, 1939-1979; British Summer Time Begins: The School Summer Holidays, 1930-1980, which was a Sunday Times bestseller. She lives in London with her husband and three sons.