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Front Row: Aminatta Forna, romantic fiction post #MeToo, the Hollywood sign

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03/04/2018

Aminatta Forna, romantic fiction post #MeToo, the Hollywood sign

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Aminatta Forna, romantic fiction post #MeToo, the Hollywood sign

Aminatta Forna on her new novel Happiness a multi-layered story set in modern London.

Aminatta Forna on her novel Happiness, set in modern London from the perspective of those passing through. And how is the #MeToo movement changing romantic fiction?

Prize-winning author Aminatta Forna on the many different ingredients that make up her new novel, Happiness, a multi-layered story set in modern London, seen from the perspective of those passing through.

The Alpha male sweeping a woman off her feet has long been a common trope in romantic fiction but can it survive in a world where the #MeToo movement has transformed the debate around gender politics?

The Hollywood sign, on Mount Lee in Los Angeles, is one of the world's most famous cultural icons. The original 45-feet tall sign sat on Hollywood Hills from 1923 until 1978, before it fell into disrepair and was replaced. Sculptor and collector Bill Mack bought the original sign. He talks to Front Row about its history and explains why he is taking the H on tour around the world. 

And we hear about Blackpool's plans to open a museum celebrating its past as Britain's first mass seaside resort. Aided by a grant from the government's Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, the museum will form part of the legacy of the Great Exhibition of the North.

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