A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of A.S. Byatt’s Frederica Quartet.

Inspired by the novels of D.H. Lawrence, particularly The Rainbow and Women in Love, this ambitious quartet from Booker Prize-winning novelist A.S. Byatt charts the lives of the Potter family between 1953 and 1970. Set against the changing social and political landscape of England in the ’50s and ’60s, it follows the heroine, Frederica, from precocious teenager to TV talk-show host and from her Yorkshire home to the heart of swinging London.

The Virgin in the Garden sees the Potter family preparing to celebrate Elizabeth II’s coronation, while Frederica auditions for a play about Elizabeth I written by the beautiful Alexander Wedderburn. Will she win the part and Alexander’s heart?

In Still Life, Frederica’s ambitions – both academic and sexual – come to fruition, as she gains a place at Cambridge University to study English – and men.

In Babel Tower, Frederica has given up her carefree, independent lifestyle – but as the ’60s’ cultural revolution explodes and the quest for personal and public freedom becomes all-important, will settling down bring her happiness?

And in A Whistling Woman, as events build to a tragic climax in Yorkshire, back in London, Frederica is faced with a difficult choice….