That's My Boy - A Modern Parent's Guide to Raising A Happy And Confident Son by Jenni Murray is published by Vermilion, price £9.99. Available now.

It wouldn't be apparent to her millions of loyal listeners but the cool, self-assured Jenni Murray, celebrated presenter of BBC's Woman's Hour, is feeling decidedly shaken.

Publicly, of course, she's as professional as ever tackling the topical, challenging and emotional issues on the radio programme - from women's role in the remaking of Iraq to the menopause and childcare.

She's done it for 16 years and still relishes every moment of it. "I adore it and hope no one will notice how long I've been there and try to move me. Woman's Hour is like Marmite or Jammy Dodgers - a well-loved brand that every so often reinvents itself with a new identity and a new generation who rediscover it.''

But privately she's struggling to come to terms with 'empty nest syndrome' as her two sons, Edward, 20 and Charlie, 16 - "the lights of my life'' - begin to become adult, and start leaving the cosy, Cheshire country home she shares with her partner, David Forgham.

She sighs as she says in those trademark soft, melodious tones: "A few months ago Edward told us he'd fallen in love. I suppose at his age it would be a little strange if by now he hadn't embarked on a grand passion, and I would be frantic with worry if he had no one to care for him and make him happy now he's away at university.

Murray, 53, is appropriately revealing her battered maternal feelings and forthright views on parenting as she launches her latest book entitled That's My Boy.

A manual to help modern parents raise "happy and confident sons'', it draws on her own experiences and those of many other parents and experts from psychologists to teachers.

She's a lifelong feminist and so it includes advice not only on dealing with the conventional hazards such as drink, drugs and sex but also how to encourage boys to learn "that raising children and management of a home are not just 'Wifework'''.

She hopes it will help parents raise boys who "become the husbands and fathers and partners our daughters and grandchildren deserve''.

It may seem rather ironic that Murray, a champion of women's rights, should be writing a book which she describes as a "celebration of boys'' but she explains it was born out of her anger.