A warning, this episode contains mention of sexual assault.

Catherine, called Birdie, is a historical novel beloved by many millennials who grew up in the 90s.

One millennial in particular remembers the book, Finally.

writer and director, Lena Dunham, who's now translated it into a rye coming of age movie.

Bella Ramsey stars as Catherine, a smart and spirited teen living in medieval England.

When her parents set out to match her with a suitor, she finds increasingly clever ways to resist

any such arrangement. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about Catherine, called Birdie,

on Popculture Happy Hour from NPR.

Joining me today is Greta Johnson. She's the host of WBEZ's Nurette podcast and the co-host of HBO's

official Game of Thrones podcast, House of the Dragon. Welcome back Greta. Hey, thanks,

Aisha. Glad to be here. Glad to have you here too. So in Catherine, called Birdie,

Bella Ramsey plays the title character who is a 14 year old living in 13th century England.

Her parents are Lady Ashlyn and Lord Rallo, played by Billy Piper and Andrew Scott.

And when the family falls on hard times, Lord Rallo becomes determined to marry Birdie off so

they can secure their financial future. Unsurprisingly, Birdie is not at all into this idea.

With each new potential suitor, she attempts to make herself undesirable and thwart their

advances much to her father's chagrin. Eventually, though, she meets a challenge even she can't

easily get rid of. The creepy Sir John Henry Mergaw, aka Shaggybeard, and he's played by Paul K.

The cast also includes Isis Haynesworth and Michael Wolfeffett as Birdie's best friend,

Allison Perkin, Joe Auin as Birdie's Uncle George, and Sophia Canado as his wife Ethyl Frefa,

Rose Splinter of Devon. What a name. Catherine Claude Birdie is based on Karen Krishman's 1994

young adult novel Lena Dunham adopted the screenplay and she directed it as well.

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