MUSTREADS

Out now in paperback

UNDER THE WIRE by Paul Conroy

(Quercus £9.99, 336 pp) ON FEBRUARY 22, 2012, the Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin was killed, together with the French photographer, Remi Ochlik, when the building where they were sheltering from conflict in the Syrian city of Homs was shelled by the Syrian Army.

Colvin’s colleague, the photographer Paul Conroy, was also badly injured in the attack. Under The Wire is Conroy’s unforgettable account of how he and Colvin made their way into Homs to report on the horrors unleashed there by the deliberate bombing of civilian targets.

The pair had formed a close friendship inspired by a love of sailing, whisky and black humour.

His account of their work in Syria, telling the world of the tragedy of Homs and his eventual escape, is a gripping depiction of courage amid the carnage.

PAUL O’GRADY’S COUNTRY LIFE by Paul O’Grady

(Corgi £8.99, 352 pp) ‘CATCHING an escaped pig, driving a cow out of the kitchen, dealing with killer sheep — it’s all part of rural living... Best thing I ever did, moving down here.’

Paul O’Grady is a selfdescribed ‘city rat turned country mouse and, I believe, all the better for it’. As a child growing up in Birkenhead, he had a taste of country life on his uncle’s farm in Ireland, so later, when his friend and manager, Murphy, rang to say he’d found the perfect rural retreat in Kent, Paul bought it, sight unseen.

This endearing and funny book describes the perils and pleasures of country living, with anecdotes about aggressive geese and psychotic cows and recipes for everything from herbal remedies to cheese scones.

PATIENT H69 by Vanessa Potter

(Bloomsbury £9.99, 272 pp) IN THE autumn of 2012, everything in Vanessa Potter’s life seemed fine.

She was happily married, with two young children and a busy career as a media producer.

But one morning, she awoke to find everything dark and hazy — as though she were wearing a pair of sunglasses.

By the following morning, 90 per cent of her sight had gone. But after endless medical tests, there was still no answer to the question: ‘What is wrong with me?’

A week later, her sight began slowly to return — though with the colour disturbingly drained from everything she saw.

It turned out that she was suffering from Devic’s disease, an extremely rare autoimmune disorder.

Her vivid and inspiring memoir describes how her experience moved her life in a new direction, and explores the science behind her condition.