Bidisha is a broadcaster, critic and journalist for BBC, Channel 4 and Sky News
June 2024
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley review – time-travel romance is a sparkling delight
All That Glitters by Orlando Whitfield review – how to make an exhibition of yourself
May 2024
Notebook
A successful woman in her 40s with a toyboy pop star? Great on screen in The Idea of You, scary in reality
Bidisha Mamata
It’s far less bother to stream romcoms, like the latest Anne Hathaway film, into my living room than play them out in real life
April 2024
I’m F*cking Amazing by Anoushka Warden review – a filthily frank, funny and moving debut
The British playwright’s first novel is sweary and saucy but also tender and soulful once it reveals its true heart
March 2024
Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh review – when a clinch is a crime
A gay Nigerian is persecuted by his father and the state in Ibeh’s stylish and moving debut novel
November 2023
Family Meal by Bryan Washington review – distant voices and still lives
The American’s second novel, narrated by characters both living and dead, feels like a wan echo of his debut
October 2023
Notebook
Killer crabs with cute claws, bedbugs and evil AI. It’s all out of the mould of misery
Bidisha Mamata
A Bird in Winter by Louise Doughty review – effortless entertainment
September 2023
Rouge by Mona Awad review – like drowning in poison
A woman is recruited into a demonic beauty cult in this intricate, sometimes funny novel, but the protagonist’s contemptuous voice becomes tiresome
July 2023
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah review – a big and bold dystopian satire that lacks nuance
Notebook
AI has yet to produce a masterpiece, but after sucking our souls dry it may yet
Bidisha Mamata
June 2023
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi review – a language lab fluent in the dark arts
Notebook
Calling Bridget Phillipson ‘chippy’ is a cheap shot oozing in class contempt
Bidisha Mamata
April 2023
Notebook
Labour should be selling itself instead of attacking Rishi Sunak and his wife
Bidisha Mamata
Voters need to hear bold promises from the opposition rather than allegations and immature controversialism
March 2023
The Catholic church offering free tattoos? It’s a cross I’d be happy to bear
Bidisha Mamata
A monastic group in Vienna is offering to ink followers: with its cycle of pain and regret, it’s pure Old Testament, says Observer columnist Bidisha Mamata
Dear Mum … writers reflect on the unique influence of their mothers
On Mother’s Day, seven Observer writers talk about the women who shaped their lives in a host of different ways, by instilling a love of art and creativity, by navigating life’s complexities – or even through their painful absence
Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed review – a slick and starry collection of short stories
Tackling gendered insults head on, A-list authors deliver a smart anthology of fun and fearless tales to celebrate Virago’s 50th birthday
February 2023
Notebook
Nihilistic and crazed, Cocaine Bear is zoological zeitgeist for these end times
Bidisha Mamata
A drug-filled beast and an ennui-prone alligator sum up 21st-century life, but at least Flaco the owl is a positive role model
January 2023
Notebook
Will we be able to look away from the mummy issues raised on Milf Manor?
Bidisha Mamata
The Year of the Cat by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett review – kitten heals
