Woman's Hour

You may have visited Kew Gardens and seen the incredible gallery of botanical art created by Marianne North - she is one of several female artists being featured at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum as part of Coventry's UK City of Culture Celebrations. The exhibition, called UnNatural History, explores not only the historical role of artists in the science of natural history - but also contemporary artists addressing the current climate crisis. But with so much focus on the environment how effective is art in grabbing the public's attention? Alice Sharp is the founder of Invisible Dust who have curated the exhibition and Frances Disley is an artist who examines the medicinal properties of plants and healing power of nature. Why, after decades of social progress is motherhood still so much harder than it needs to be? Why aren't we honest about the realities of being a mother? These are just two of the themes explored in a trio of books about motherhood that have just been published. It's not as if these