Woman's Hour - 10/06/2008

Presented by Jenni Murray. Ffion Hague has been examining the lives of Lloyd George's women and joins Jenni to talk of devotion, deception and Downing Street. Susan Taylor hit the headlines when she admitted to turning her own son over to the police after a burglary at her home. Her son is now serving a nine month jail sentence. Susan joins Jenni to discuss why she has no regrets and thinks prison is the right place for him. As part of a series on bluestocking women, Anna McNamee finds out about the historian Catherine Macaulay and her often scandalous life. Polly Russell, co-author of a new book called The Kitchen Revolution, and food enthusiast Justine Brian from the Institute of Ideas join Jenni to discuss whether we need a more economical approach to food given the current economic climate. Merilyn Harris joins writer Polly Devlin to walk through one of only seven meadows left in Somerset, which Polly has maintained for the past 25 years and has now become an area of Special Scientific Interest. Including: Paid Servant ER Braithwaite's novel, set in London in 1958, is based on his experiences as a black social worker in a racist society. Braithwaite struggles in his role as child welfare officer to place Roddy, a boy of mixed race whose father is Mexican and whose mother is a prostitute. ER Braithwaite ...... Kwame Kwei Armah Mr Bentham ...... Jimmy Akingbola Mrs Bentham ...... Clare Perkins Jim ...... John Rowe Mrs Larkin ...... Lisa Stevenson Mr Larkin ...... Chris Pavlo Ellesworth ...... Nyasha Hatendi Ella ...... Liz Sutherland Matron ...... Joan Walker Roddy ...... Cara Hails Abridged by Anne Edyvean. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.