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Hello and welcome to Women of Balls, where I, Katie Balls, talk to today's trailblazers.

My guest today is an award-winning novelist. A collateral descent of the Victorian novelist Anthony

Tronip. She has carved at her own reputation for writing novels exploring contemporary life.

Her books have made the best-seller list and sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.

She's also been dubbed the Queen of the Aga Saga, but more on that later.

In reply to Lacey have suggested that her piece is virginia

trivial, Trolip has embodied the spirit of Virginia Woolf. It is a grave mistake to think there

is more significance in great things than in little things. At 76, still a working novelist,

her 22nd book was recently out. My guest today is Joanna Trollope.

Now, before we get on with this episode, it's worth pointing out that I spoke to, Joanna,

just before the coronavirus pandemic took over everyday life. And we actually recorded it from

the spectator office back in the days when you didn't have to

worry about two metres to such a degree. So I hope you don't mind the lack of coronavirus mentions.

Perhaps you might even find it a welcome relief. Thank you for joining me, Joanna. Now in this podcast,

before we get to the present day, what we like to do is rewind the hands of time to what you're doing

before your

current career. You were born in your granddad's rectory in a Cotswold's village. I was at the

very end of 1943 so that everybody can now work out exactly how old I am. But I was born into a world

where women weren't encouraged to work at all.

But your mother was an artist.

My mother was a painter and my father ran.

...