As Margaret Forster's struggle with cancer continues, she reflects the importance of home, and why, inside her own home, she can cope.

I was born on May 25, 1938, in the front bedroom of a house in Orton Road, on the outer edges of Raffles, a council estate. I was a lucky girl.'

So began Margaret Forster's journey through the houses she's lived in, from the sparkling new council house, built as part of a utopian vision by Carlisle City Council, to her beloved London house of today, via Oxford, Hampstead and the Lake District. As well as a poignant reflection on home and the effect of home on us, My Life in Houses is also a sideways look at the life of one of the greatest contemporary British novelists.

Concluded by Sian Thomas.

Writer: Margaret Forster
Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Justine Willett

First broadcast on BBC Radio in November 2014. Show less