Woman's Hour

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