Premium summer big reads: She had stage 4 lung cancer, and a mountain to climb

Isabella de la Houssaye and her daughter Bella share a moment in their tent at Camp One during the ascent of Aconcagua. Photo / Max Whittaker, The New York Times

The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best stories of 2019 from our premium international syndicators, including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Times of London and Harvard Business Review.

This morning we look at a courageous mother raising her kids on adventure, a night as Jordan Belfort, the Winklevoss twins get revenge, the trafficking of teen brides and artificial insemination gone wrong.

She had stage 4 lung cancer, and a mountain to climb

For two decades Isabella de la Houssaye has raised her five children on adventure. Then came a brutal diagnosis, and a burning desire for a final journey with each one.

A reporter and photographer from the New York Times follow Isabella and her daughter Bella as they travel to Argentina to conquer Aconcagua.

Isabella de la Houssaye on her way to Camp One during the ascent of Aconcagua. Photo / Max Whittaker, The New York Times

My night as the Wolf of Wall Street

If you haven't seen the Hollywood film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, it is the relatively true story of how one man manipulates the market, while devouring most of the drugs in Long Island.

Even in 2013, when the film debuted, the story was a throwback to inexcusable excesses. Since then, we've had #MeToo and increased gender pay fights.

Henry Mance of the Financial Times draws lessons for today's workplace by revisiting the toxic excesses of the Jordan Belfort era.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in the movie version of The Wolf of Wall Street. Photo / Paramount Pictures

How the Winklevoss twins became bitcoin billionaires

Remember the Winklevoss twins? Made famous in the 2010 film The Social Network, they sued Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook and lost.

Now the Winklevoss twins have made it big, revenge is in the air.

Danny Fortson of The Times reports.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss once sued Mark Zuckerberg claiming Facebook was their idea. Now, they say their second act is even bigger. Photo / Getty Images

'Ma, I've been sold': Brides trafficked to China

Over 30 years China's "one child" policy has caused a gender imbalance and shortage of wives.

To cope, Chinese men have begun importing wives from nearby countries, sometimes by force.

Hannah Beech of The New York Times looks at how common bride trafficking is in China.

Nyo, 17, back home in Myanmar, after being trafficked by brokers who sold her and her friend to men across the border in China. Photo / Minzayar Oo, The New York Times

Their children were conceived with donated sperm. It was the wrong sperm

As genetic testing becomes more widespread, parents are finding that sperm used in artificial insemination did not come from the donors they chose.

Jacqueline Mroz of The New York Times reports.

DNA tests have led to the discovery parents were given the wrong donor sperm. Photo / Peter Horvath, The New York Times