April 03, 2020

Nazir Afzal & Maggie Gee

27 minutes

Nazir Afzal prosecuted dozens of men responsible for grooming young girls during his time as head of the CPS in the North West of England. His role was dramatised in BBC1's harrowing Three Girls series which told the story of three teenage girls who were abused by a gang of Asian men. He is a strong advocate for women and his choice of book reflects this. It's the late journalist Sue Lloyd Roberts' The War on Women.

Novelist Maggie Gee has written many books including My Driver, My Cleaner and The Flood. She has chosen The First Breath by Olivia Gordon which she describes as a rather neglected book on the lives of pre-term babies, their parents and the doctors and nurses in a premature babies unit. She calls it "riveting, touching and informative."

Harriett's choice is Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coetzee, the story of a magistrate in an unnamed colonial town on the edge of the British Empire where the indigenous people are referred to as 'barbarians'.

These books provoke some very interesting discussion. Tell us what you think on @agoodreadbbc

THE WAR ON WOMEN By Sue Lloyd Roberts

THE FIRST BREATH by Olivia Gordon

WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS by JM Coetzee

Producer: Maggie Ayre

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