Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins

Vanessa Redgrave is 'in love with' Rachel Holmes' biography of Sylvia Pankhurst, Eileen Atkins has chosen a very different biography, Oliver Soden's imagining of the life of Jeoffrey, the cat who lived with the poet Christopher Smart 250 years ago. Harriett goes even further back in time with her selection, The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín.

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Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio in Bristol