logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
27m 12s

Healing letters

Bbc World Service
About this episode
<p>The 'Queen of Letters', Isabel Allende, on writing, processing grief and a full garage. The best-selling author wrote to her late daughter, Paula, when she was in a coma. She then turned the letters into a book. She says writing “allowed me to understand what had happened and deal with it”. Isabel has a garage full of her daily correspondence with her own ... Show More
Up next
Jul 4
Leaving for college
Shelley’s daughter leaves for college – it’s a thrilling moment for everyone, but at the same time there’s a sense of loss. What will happen to their family when one piece of it is missing?So Shelley writes her daughter a letter with all the advice and memories she wants her to t ... Show More
25m 38s
Jun 27
Grieving you
Paola’s daughter Camilla was beautiful, with curly hair and big eyes like her mother. She loved bath time and eating mangoes. But she also had a severe mental and physical disability, and died aged 15 after nearly two years of palliative care.Paola listened to Dear Daughter while ... Show More
26m 3s
Jun 20
Don’t fear menopause
Annice Mukherjee is a hormone expert – she’s spent her career helping women deal with menopause. But when she develops breast cancer at 41, she becomes a patient rather than a doctor.Annice writes a letter to her daughter about how her professional experience helped her deal with ... Show More
27m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2021
Turn memory into art: Isabel Allende on “The House of the Spirits”
How do you write the stories of your life? Any time, any place, any order. Isabel Allende was 39, and a refugee from her native Chile, when she started writing a letter to her dying grandfather – recounting the family stories he'd told her – of love, loss, memory, magic. This let ... Show More
38m 9s
Sep 2019
Life in Letters
Helen Cullen makes the case for the art of letter writing.In this talk, recorded at the Larmer Tree Festival, Helen reveals how writing letters has been a constant throughout her life and discusses its importance in deepening her relationships with her friends, family and partner ... Show More
20m 29s
Jul 2021
Ghostwriters for hire
Some people live the most amazing lives but aren't always the best at putting those experiences into words. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two ghostwriters about collaborative writing - what do they enjoy about telling someone else's story? Michelle Burford is a celebrity memoir collabo ... Show More
26m 27s
Feb 2022
Anne Tyler, writer
Anne Tyler is a novelist and short story writer. Her 23 novels include the Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons. Anne was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1941, the oldest of four children. Her parents were Quaker ... Show More
36m 1s
Nov 2023
Sidebar: Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson
Meredith sits down with her sister, Brette, to tackle two family-themed letters from the Love Letters column. First, a woman feels some tension with her future sister-in-law. Second, a writer discovers that her boyfriend and her mother had a one-night-stand in the past. Should th ... Show More
23m 17s
Oct 2023
Dolly Alderton
Described by Lena Dunham as ‘the bard of modern love’, Dolly Alderton is an award-winning author and journalist, as well as agony aunt for the Sunday Times with her phenomenally popular column Dear Dolly. Her books have all become Sunday Times Bestsellers and her brilliant memoir ... Show More
43m 6s
Mar 2024
Brianna Wiest on Her Inspiring Books & Messages of Hope
Bestselling author Brianna Wiest has touched millions of readers with her books and quotes featuring messages of empowerment, self-reflection and hope. She found healing and growth in the written word while overcoming personal struggles, and now, she hopes to help others through ... Show More
35m 3s
Jun 2024
Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long
Ellen and Mom discuss the soldiers, smugglers, and swear jar in Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long.  Plus, a new addition to the family and Ellen reads books? PLURAL?! Come hang out with us!  Twitter/Instagram: @notyourmomsrom Facebook Group: Not Your Mom&apos;s Facebo ... Show More
56m 3s