Dolly Alderton; Rape convictions - Katie's story; How to work from home

Dolly Alderton joins Jane to talk about her first novel Ghosts. Her protagonist Nina Dean is dealing with a lot. She’s trying to make it as a food writer and finally has a flat of her own. Her dad is slipping away from her into dementia and her Mum is set on re-inventing herself. Friends are changing and disappearing into coupledom and parenting so when Max shows up via a dating app he seems like a dream come true. In fact, Nina’s problems are only just beginning.

A rape survivor we are calling Katie contacted Woman’s Hour to tell her story. After a horrific ordeal at the end of last year, a few weeks ago her former partner was convicted of rape and sexual assault and was give a lengthy prison sentence. Katie feels that she has had justice and that she was well treated by the police and in court. But, as she explains to Jane, she is left with questions and an uncomfortable feeling that other victims of rape might not have had the same treatment or outcome. At a time when the rate of convictions for rape have fallen to an all-time low, Gillian Jones, QC and Head of Chambers at Red Lion in London, responds.

When many of us suddenly switched to home working back in March, we might have thought we would be back in the office by now, but 30% of us are still working from home, and there is no timetable yet for returning to offices. So how’s it going, sharing work space with other adults, children or indeed no-one at all? What have we learned about the do’s and don’ts over the last 7 months? Jane speaks to clinical psychologist Linda Blair, and Chloe Davies, Head of PR & Partnerships at MyGWork, who originally told us about her experiences of juggling her work and two young sons back in May.