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Woman's Hour

Lyra McKee's book 'Angels With Blue Faces'

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s been nearly four months since the young journalist and writer, Lyra McKee, was shot in Londonderry; she had been watching rioting in the Creggan area of the city. She had just written a book called 'Angels With Blue Faces' and a week before she died, had approved the cover for it. Lyra didn’t get to see it published, but this afternoon it will officially be launched in The Linen Hall Library in Belfast, where she did most of her research. Her sister Nichola speaks to us from Belfast. A new survey of older women readers by Gransnet (with publisher HarperCollins) has revealed how they really feel about their portrayal in fiction. Just over half of women over 40 say their age group is portrayed in clichéd roles, and 47 per cent say there’s not enough books about middle-aged or older women. Yet women over 45 buy more fiction than any others, and 84 per cent say they read every day, or almost every day. So how are older women portrayed in fiction? Are we only reading about very stereotypical characters? Are older women being offered the books and characters they really want to read? Jenni is joined by Cari Rosen - the editor of Gransnet, who also runs their bookclub – and by Caroline Lodge who writes a blog about older women in fiction. Yesterday we heard from Judith, a survivor of domestic abuse in a small community in the Highlands. Scottish Women's Aid has launched a pilot scheme called ASK ME to help women like her. The scheme in Scotland builds on the success of Women’s Aid pilots and projects in England and Wales. Kathleen Garragher joined trainers Catherine Russell and Cathie Way out on the road in the Scottish Highlands. They do sessions with members of the community who train as ambassadors listening to women and signposting them to sources of support and information. We also hear from a survivor of domestic abuse we are calling Kelly. Did you know that the first woman governor of a prison in Britain lived within its walls and took her 12 children on her rounds? Her name was Emma Martin and she ran Brixton Prison in South London, in the 1800s. As it celebrates its 200th anniversary we look back at its beginnings as the first British prison just for women and its life now as a resettlement prison for male offenders. We hear from Chris Impey, author of a history of HMP Brixton and to the current Deputy Governor Louise Ysart. Presenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Kirsty Starkey Interviewed Guest: Nichola Corner Interviewed Guest: Cari Rosen Interviewed Guest: Caroline Lodge Interviewed Guest: Catherine Russell Interviewed Guest: Cathie Way Reporter: Kathleen Carragher Interviewed Guest: Louise Ysart Interviewed Guest: Chris Impey

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:04.9

Hello, Jenny Murray welcoming you to the Woman's Hour podcast on Friday, the 2nd of August.

0:11.3

200 years ago, a prison was opened in Brixton in South London. It was the first to house

0:17.4

only women and Emma Barton was its governor. How does it fare today as a resettlement jail

0:23.1

for male offenders with a female deputy governor?

0:27.0

In the 2nd of our reports on domestic abuse in rural areas, we assess the progress of

0:32.2

the scheme run by Scottish women's aid called Ask Me. And what do older women like to

0:38.5

read? Women over 40 are the biggest buyers of fiction, but can't find enough stories

0:43.6

in which their age group is portrayed accurately. What do they want?

0:49.9

Only four months ago, a young journalist and writer, Lyra McKee, was shot dead in London

0:56.0

dairy. She had been observing writing in the Craig and area of the city. She'd just

1:01.5

completed a book called Angels with Blue Faces, in which she'd investigated the murders

1:07.0

in 1981 of an MP, Robert Bradford, and a young man called Ken Campbell. She also looked

1:13.8

into rumours of the abuse of boys at her home called King Cora. She didn't see her work

1:20.0

published, but today it will be launched officially in Belfast at the Linnon Hall Library

1:25.7

where she carried out most of her research. Her sister, Nicola Corner, joined us from

1:30.9

Belfast. What would have been Lyra's reaction to the book being published?

1:36.8

Well today she would have been extremely excited. She would have been running about checking

1:42.3

everything, double checking everything. She would have been worried about things that didn't

1:46.8

need to be worried about. She'd been trying to tell what sort of things would she have

1:52.4

been worried about, that she didn't need to be worried about. Well she'd have been worried

1:56.1

about what other people would have thought of her work. She would have been very concerned

...

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