i listened, and then i went away and read lots in the british library and read accounts of daily life, and then i went back and listened again. when you've got that lairing, you can start to imagine just the sort of warp and weft of it. because it's quite clear, in the way she must have talked to you, that the descriptive richness of it was considerable — i mean, the plants, the animals, the sky and so on. she was like that. the way she described cooking, for example, it was incredibly detailed. so there's a sort of party that happened every year, it was massive, and it took up a lot of her life. so the drama would be in describing how you make meat. that was where it was located and therefore i had to try and recreate that somehow. and, also, the shocks to daily life that came about from political events that were sometimes really very distant. they are distant, but they always have ripples, and sometimes

quite unexpected ripples. and, i guess, that was kind of what i was trying to catch, it was one of the things that, you know, she might be distant but, another moment, she'd be very close, like very close to the emperor — trying to petition him, for example. so you are talking about a world that we can only know in our imaginations. and yet, what you've been able to do, from these conversations, i think, is to create something which is very real. i mean, you can smell the food. i grew up there. your father's ethiopian, your mother is canadian. with the food, the food continued. in rural ethiopia, the life is not that different, necessarily, that it was, you know, 100 years ago, 1,000 years ago, even. it was almost an excuse to go back to my childhood and get the feel and smell and touch of things.

people will come to conclusions about your grandmother as they read the book, but what's your assessment of how she felt about her youth and about the circumstances of hergrowing up? because it seems that she was a person of great calm and few regrets. is that fair? i think, when stuff happens to you so early, and when it happens across the culture, there is an acceptance of it and an unquestioning of it. so any questions came much later. i think she regretted not having been able to read and some of the opportunities that she might have had, but she would also say, well, that was the way it was. it's very, very touching when, at the end, you come to her death and, more to the point, her burial. it was obviously a very moving experience for you. it was. i'd never been to a funeral

of somebody i knew before, apart from anything else. it's very visceral. and i think irish culture does something similar where grieving is very much allowed and expected, but there are systems. she was buried by the church into which she was married. and there's a procession, and the priests are in theirfull regalia. and the whole town, basically, sees her pass. one of the things, finally, that i think is striking about the book — you've kept yourself out of it almost entirely. why? it wasn't about me. it's about somebody who is very different to me. and, i think, you can show your working, as it were, but then you just get in the way. and if i had put myself into it more, i would have been explaining it. and ijust wanted it to exist absolutely on its own terms and to come off the page on its own terms. that's an interesting answer. and, because of your conversations, you felt you could render it faithfully as it were, without your intervention. i hope so, yes.

aida edemariam, author of the wife's tale, thank you very much. thank you. hello. thank you forjoining me. let's get you up—to—date with what is being known as the all—important weather forecast. last week, is being known as the all—important weatherforecast. last week, many seem like this, and for some of you, it will look like that for some days to come. but no doubt about it, we are moving into something a bit more clement than many of have experienced it, thanks to this area of low pressure. we don't often thank areas of low pressure, but this system to the west and south—west will help to feed in relatively mild air from the atlantic, rather than something very

much colderfrom the atlantic, rather than something very much colder from the heart of continental europe. not a heatwave, but already some of those temperatures are ticking up across the southern counties of england and wales. temperatures will stay positive across the southern half of britain overnight in towns and cities, but in the countryside further north, it will be cold and there may be further snow showers, because this low pressure keeps things fairly unsubtle towards the british isles, but it is helping to slowly lift temperatures. close to that area of low pressure close to the south—west, expect some heavy rainfall getting into wales. some sleet on coastal areas, and right into the high ground of scotland, a potential for further snow showers. this is tuesday, and a fairly settled picture, with quite a bit of dry weather across england and

wales. fairly leaden skies, though. further rain around about the coasts of scotland, maybe on the highest ground again. at this stage, temperatures in the south starting to push towards double figures. not a great deal of change on wednesday, save for some pretty hefty showers for some spots across england and wales. all the while, that chance of further wintry showers across the highest ground in scotland, with temperatures well in positive figures by the day. rather unsettled weather in the coming week, and if there is any snow, it will be mainly on the hills. this is bbc news. the headlines at seven. tributes to sir roger bannister, the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes, who has died at the age of 88. he was one of the cleverest people i think i've ever met and he was in equal measure modest as well. desperate residents flee fighting

in syria's eastern ghouta. 0ur middle east editor brings us the latest from nearby damascus, as thousands remain trapped in the ongoing bombardment. this hour — more disruption could be on the way as communities begin the clear up after this week's freezing weather. as we enter the new week, there are warnings of further severe weather for scotland, northern ireland and parts of england. and on meet the author, jim naughtie talks to the journalist aida edemariam about her book, the wife's tale.