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Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

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Jane Garvey

Caroline Donne

Natasha Pearlman

Karen Morton

Claudia Jessie

Gwyneth Hughes

Miriam Toews

Lauretta Ihonor

Mishal Husain

Woman's Hour: Vanity Fair, C-sections, Miriam Toews, Second careers

Factual

Vanity Fair, C-sections, Miriam Toews, Second careers

28/08/2018

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Vanity Fair, C-sections, Miriam Toews, Second careers

Vanity Fair, caesarean sections, author Miriam Toews, and second careers.

Claudia Jesse and director Gwyneth Williams on a new TV adaptation of Vanity Fair, Natasha Pearlman on why her elective C-section was great, and Miriam Toews on her latest novel.

Natasha Pearlman wants women to know that having her baby by an elective C-section was great. Her recent Times article was in response to the findings by the organisation Birthrights that women requesting a C-section face multiple barriers from the majority of UK NHS trusts. She joins Jane along with Consultant Obstetrician Dr Karen Morton.

Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray's novel which produced one of British literature's most memorable female characters in Becky Sharpe enjoys a revival this week. A new adaptation airs on ITV this Sunday and its writer Gwyneth Hughes believes this is an updated story for a modern audience. She joins Jane to explain her process along with Claudia Jessie who plays Amelia Sedley in the 7-part series.

From 2005 to 2009, the women of a Bolivian Mennonite community woke every morning with clear signs of rape, yet no memory of anything happening in the night. They were told by their community that it was demons visiting them, or simply that they were making it up, until it was discovered that eight men in the village were anaesthetizing them and raping them while they slept. Jane speaks to author Miriam Toews about her new novel, Women Talking, based on the story of the Bolivian women.

How easy is it to start a second career and what skills do you need? Lauretta Ihonor founder of the career change website Ambition Plan joins Jane plus Mishal Husain who has written a book about the practical skills women need to help them fulfil their potential in the workplace.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Caroline Donne.

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