大象传媒

Baroness Shirley Williams and听Helge Rubinstein met at college back in the 1950鈥檚 and have been in friends ever since.听From launching their careers to finding love, having children and dealing with what life鈥檚 thrown at them 鈥� they鈥檝e been part of each other鈥檚 lives for over 60 years.听Jenni talks to them about the secret to lifelong friendship between women听 鈥� and how some friends help influence and shape our lives.听

When Shirley Williams鈥檚 mother Vera Britten wrote Testament of Friendship about her close relationship with the author Winifred Holtby, she felt that female friendship had been 鈥渕ocked, belittled and falsely interpreted.鈥� So, seventy-five years on, what value does society place on female friendship?听 And how is this demonstrated through popular culture? Writer Dawn O鈥橮orter writes books on friendship for young adults and joins Shirley and Jenni to discuss Britten describes as a 鈥渘oble relationship which, far from impoverishing, actually enhances the love of a girl for her lover, of a wife for her husband, of a mother for her children.鈥�

Dawn O鈥橮orter and The Sun鈥檚 Agony Aunt, Deidre Sanders tell Jenni how they think technology is shaping friendship 鈥� is it wrong to text instead of calling? Have you fallen out over Facebook etiquette?听 Where do the boundaries lie between real and virtual friends? Has social media changed your friendships?听听

We all know that friendship sometimes naturally comes to an end as jobs change, people relocate and address books are lost.听 But what happens when one friend wants to draw things to a close and the other doesn鈥檛 seem to get the hint?听 Woman鈥檚 Hour listener Joy feels she spends quite a bit of her time with certain friends she no longer has much in common with at best, and at worst make her feel down-right depressed and bad about herself.听 So it is possible for Joy to sever some friendships without causing conflict within her social group?听 And what is the best way of breaking up with a friend?听 Jenni talks to Joy, to agony aunt Deirdre Sanders and to novelist Jo Carnegie, whose book It Had to be You is published in August.

Jane and Gina were best friends.听 When they met they hit it off straight away.听 They had a similar sense of humour, shared confidences and enjoyed each other鈥檚 company.听 Within months they were inseparable: they socialised, had days out with their children and even went on holiday together.听 When Gina鈥檚 husband Shaun was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Jane vowed to do everything she could to help her best mate.听 But things took a tragic turn when Gina was killed suddenly in a car crash.听 Though devastated by her own grief for her best friend, Jane supported Gina鈥檚 family.听 When Shaun died in 2012, Jane stepped in, becoming the mother for her best friend鈥檚 boys.

Please Don鈥檛 Cry - A family torn apart by grief 鈥� an incredible act of love, published as a paperback original by Virgin Books.

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