Carlos Acosta; Victoria Hislop; Literary heroines with Samantha Ellis and Dr Paula Byrne

Available for over a year

Ballet Dancer and now author Carlos Acosta shares his Five of the Best Books. Carlos Acosta is one of the world's best known ballet dancers and continues to challenge himself on stage in new and classic roles. Meanwhile he's also written an enthusiastically received autobiography No Way Home and now, a debut novel called Pigs Foot, a turbulent tale of history, memory and family set in Cuba and influenced by many of the literary greats on his book list from Marquez to JD Salinger. In the next in our series looking at where authors write, the internationally bestselling Victoria Hislop takes us deep into the bowels of The London Library. When 35 year old playwright Samantha Ellis, a Cathy Earnshaw fan, was "wuthering" on the Yorkshire moors, and arguing with her best friend the comparative merits of wild, romantic Cathy over more independent and principled Jane Eyre, she had an epiphany. Had she got it wrong? Perhaps it was Jane, rather than Cathy who provided the more impressive role model? Spurred by this revelation Samantha decided to re-examine her relationship with all her literary heroines. Along with Dr Paula Byrne, she discusses whether as we mature, our choice of heroines reflect the adults we've become. Producer: Andrea Kidd.