Thrown: SARA COX'S GLORIOUS FEELGOOD NOVEL

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She has a garden office where she writes, but says Cyzer would come in between his own meetings for little chats. "He'd come in for office banter, but when you're writing you can't dip in and out of it. You really have to lose yourself in it." Jameela: all she's ever done is work hard, and try her best. Why won't life give her the one thing she wants? Which all makes it hard to believe that there was a time, not so long ago, when everything stalled for Cox and she was left wondering where her future lay. On returning to Radio 1 following her first maternity leave, in 2005, and having previously presented both the flagship Breakfast Show and Drivetime before that, she was handed weekend afternoons. It is light, pure escapism and a comforting, gentle story but although there IS humour, it isn't what I would call laugh out loud! I listen to more audiobooks. I’m not really good with my own thoughts in a quiet room – I don’t know if it’s something I should be worried about. When I’m doing mundane things, I just want a little chat going on in my ear. Likable, largely middle-class men in their 50s are my thing at the moment. I’ve got Louis Theroux, Adam Buxton, David Mitchell and not remotely middle-class Bob Mortimer, whose And Away autobiography is great.

Jameela: all she’s ever done is work hard, and try her best. Why won’t life give her the one thing she really wants? He told me that I should be getting work and was just really encouraging. I met Richard Madeley for a coffee as well and he was lovely. I only knew them both “ish” at the time, but it’s about not being afraid to ask people for help.’ ‘I was trying to advertise myself and it was toe-curling. But [my agent] was right, because you just never know.’– Sara Cox Reaching career goals This story has Sara’s voice ringing true throughout. A fresh, cheeky, insightful take on how change can happen through female friendships.’ DAWN FRENCH At that point, my youngest child was 10 and I felt like I was making 1,000 sandwiches a day because they all just needed feeding and I had no head space. I was getting up early and trying to get in a 5am chunk of writing."

I finished the book and was left with very little reaction to it at all. Perhaps some sadness, pleasure, hope, puzzlement or, in fact anything at all, would have been acceptable, but it was not apparent on this occasion. Sadly, it was an endless slog through fairly uninspired scenarios peopled with relatively mundane characters. Cox is good at her designated job and is an excellent broadcaster, and l feel sorry that I was not more impressed with this book. Jameela: all she's ever done is work hard and try her best. Why won't life give her the one thing she really wants? She became the go-to stand-in for then-Breakfast Show presenter Chris Evans – big boots to fill, but the listeners adored her – and, within two years, had landed the role of host on BBC2’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, which would later inspire her novel. There were years where you could not get me arrested,’ she says, frankly. ‘My agent was amazing because, unless you put yourself in front of them, people do forget that you’re there. So she’d take me for a coffee and a biscuit with some commissioner, like she was trying to auction me off.

It’s called Metronome. It’s quite different to what I go for but I really loved it. I thought it was by a woman because the female protagonist is so well written, but it’s by Tom Watson, an annoyingly young man. I loved Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry as well. She doesn't see much of Ball or others because of their different live show times, but remains good friends with Irish DJ Annie Mac.

Jameela: all she's ever done is work hard, and try her best. Why won't life give her the one thing she really wants? I mean, let’s not mess about, teatime on Radio 2 is the dream,’ she says. ‘My biggest ambition was to get a daytime show on Radio 2, and so everything else around it is just an added extra bit of fabulousness. I think they are competitive with themselves, but we are all pretty supportive of each other," explains Cox. I have my best friend and soulmate, who's up north, and down here there's a group of five of us. Two of them I met through Radio 1 and the other two through my husband," says Cox.

The inhabitants of the Inventor's Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly 'Hellos' when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number 7's wheelie bin, but it's not exactly Ramsay Street. Don’t get me started. I’ve been in London longer than I lived up north but on my dad’s side I come from generations and generations of farmers and then it’s screeched to a halt with us five – we’re lawyers and artists and NHS workers. I think a bit of that might come through in my next book. The dream is a smallholding one day – I’ve got a horse now, Nelly, so I’m getting there. She’s really my escape. I grew up half on my dad’s farm but half on a little council estate nearby. I liked the cosiness and wanted to reflect that. I could also picture the layout in my mind – the community centre, the little doctors… The themes here are generally cuddly and inoffensive, whether it’s starting a new career later in life, cross-generational bonding, female solidarity, or learning to better understand and support your partner. But the method of delivery, with its predictable contrivances, suspicions and miscommunications, is soapier than a bubble bath, and about as somniferous. Thrown never ascends beyond the level of a potboiler. The assorted neighbours come together to try out a new skill, under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher, Sasha. And as the soft unremarkable lumps of clay are hesitantly, lovingly moulded into delicate vases and majestic pots, so too are the lives of four women. Concealed passions and heartaches are uncovered, relationships shattered and formed, and the possibility for transformation is revealed.I wasn’t perhaps as sympathetic as I should have been towards Jameela. Whilst her storyline was emotive, the more I read, the more I found her to be a little selfish in her outlook, for example towards her husband and how she treated her sister, which detracted from my feeling for her too much. My only sight criticism is it was a little predictable at times but it was such a fun read I didn’t mind that too much. Radio has always featured a lot of brilliant women and a lot of great female producers and execs. I've an all-female team - a female producer and female assistant producer - and it's a really supportive place to work." This was followed by Love in the Countryside and regular turns fronting The One Show. Today, she’s more in demand than ever, but have those years of struggle shaped the person she is now?

It was during those wilderness years that fellow presenter Davina McCall put Cox in touch with life coach Michael Heppell, and his sessions proved a huge help. She also reached out for advice from other industry names, whose time and support she has never forgotten. I think I’m just really bad at concentrating on one thing at a time, and I get quite baffled trying to live my life like that. But sleep is really important to me. And exercise – that keeps me on an even keel.’ Looking to the future The assorted neighbours come together to try out a new skill, under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher, Sasha. And as the soft unremarkable lumps of clay are hesitantly, lovingly moulded into delicate vases and majestic pots, so too are the lives of four women. Concealed passions and heartaches are uncovered, relationships shattered and formed, and the possibility for transformation is revealed. My Review of Thrown There’s no doubt in any of those questions – not least since Cox spells out her intentions starkly at the start. When sexy Scot Sasha introduces his first pottery lesson, he compares the journey of clay from a moist lump to something beautiful with their personal transformations: they will go from strangers to friends, and solve all of their problems along the way.Cox, who lives in north London with her family, had hoped that presenting Drivetime, from 5pm to 7pm, would give her more of a work-life balance. She has three children - Lola (17) from her first marriage, and Isaac (14) and Renee (12) with advertising executive Cyzer.