Deprived of gossip during lockdown, I've turned to advice columns instead | Rachel Connolly

There's surprising solace in the wisdom of agony aunts - that life doesn't always work out as we might hope

I read about five or six advice columns a week. Sometimes more. I don't think I need this much advice (I doubt anyone does), but I have an enduring fondness for the format. I love the small window into a stranger's life, and how those who write in tend to frame their problems in a way that is, if not unbiased (because who can truly appraise themselves objectively?), then at least not totally self-flattering. I like to read things that aren't written by writers, and therefore not coaxed into a conventional narrative, and of course I like the replies, too.

Over the past year, as contact with other people (especially acquaintances and new people) has been limited, I have found the snippets of family and relationship trouble, bad bosses, nightmare colleagues and irksome friends serve as a sort of replacement for the stories you hear when you have regular spontaneous interactions. And in a year when everyone has been through a lot, advice columns can serve as a reminder that there is always someone out there dealing with something worse.