You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.

My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.

The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.

With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to

helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put

together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,

check out BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Hello, today we're in the company of women, as they rally against injustice and brutality in a dazzling debut and deal with sex, marriage and motherhood in an update of a classic.

We'll also hear from Irish laureate Sebastian Barry and drop in on the changing world of

science writing. We start with that hard-hitting first novel, Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore.

It takes us to West Texas in 1976, a remote area suddenly dependent

on oil to as one character says, put it on the map. It opens with the rape of 14-year-old

Gloria Ramirez, which sends shockwaves through the small town of Odessa. In its aftermath, we're introduced to multiple

female characters, including the woman to whom Gloria runs for help, and who is called on to testify

on her behalf. All those women are attempting to carve out her life in an extremely inhospitable

terrain, and often in the face of the largely silent men who make the

rules. It's a moving read with explicit sexual violence. I'm joined on the line by the author

Elizabeth Wetmore in Chicago. Welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

As I've just said, you're in Chicago, but West Texas is very much your home terrain.

Why did you want to write about it?

You know, when I first left home, I thought I would never write about my hometown.

...