Ten Lives by Mona Chalabi review – what if we were totally honest about our wealth?

The data journalist puts her own finances – and those of ten others from across the economic spectrum – under a microscope

How much do you earn? If the question makes you bristle – and I realise we haven’t even met – would you answer it if someone convinced you that your candour might just change the world?

In her deliciously original first book, the former Guardian data journalist and illustrator Mona Chalabi sets out to do precisely that. The result – a dazzling mix of journalism, data visualisation and memoir – is both a joy to read and a serious provocation. Chalabi takes aim at our silence and furtiveness around individual income and finances. “Our collective ignorance is sustaining an unfair system,” she argues.