Review: The Radio Hour

Title: The Radio Hour

Author: Victoria Purman

Publisher: 1st May 2023 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 320 pages

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Women's Fiction

Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of The Nurses' War comes this charming, funny, pointed look at the golden years of radio broadcasting in post-war Australia, celebrating the extraordinary unseen women who wrote the radio plays that held a nation captive. For readers of Lessons in Chemistry.

Martha Berry is fifty years old, a spinster, and one of an army of polite and invisible women in 1956 Sydney who go to work each day and get things done without fuss, fanfare or reward.

Working at the country's national broadcaster, she's seen highly praised talent come and go over the years but when she is sent to work as a secretary on a brand-new radio serial, created to follow in the footsteps of Australia's longest running show, Blue Hills, she finds herself at the mercy of an egotistical and erratic young producer without a clue, a conservative broadcaster frightened by the word 'pregnant' and a motley cast of actors with ideas of their own about their roles in the show.

When Martha is forced to step in to rescue the serial from impending cancellation, she ends up secretly ghost-writing scripts for As The Sun Sets, creating mayhem with management, and coming up with storylines that resonate with the serial's growing and loyal audience of women listeners.

But she can't keep her secret forever and when she's threatened with exposure, Martha has to decide if she wants to remain in the shadows, or to finally step into the spotlight.

My Thoughts

Following on from her last novel A Woman’s Work, Victoria continues with her theme of women from Australia of the 1950s and I am 100% here for it! Love! Love! Love! This is most definitely Australia’s Lesson in Chemistry moment as it highlights so much of what women achieved through challenging opposition.  

This period of time was not that long ago and Victoria does an incredible job of highlighting the struggles women experienced through laws, societal expectations and personal preferences. It is not only a journey of how far we have come (and still need to go) but also how together, women are stronger. It is such a fabulous read - a book about women, for women and what they have contended with (and sadly may continue to do so) in the workforce. 

I adore the structure of the book with each chapter providing a ‘set the scene’ as happened in radio serials of the day. Once more readers are immersed in not only the plight of Martha (a 50 year old spinster and all the stereotypical baggage that comes attached to that) but the making and production of a radio serial from go to whoa which is both enlightening and entertaining in and of itself. With so much to choose from in today’s world of entertainment, it is pure pleasure to slip back to a time when the whole nation embraced the medium of radio and the stories it provided.

‘If politeness had held her back for her first fifty years, the truth was going to win out from now on. Too many women kept too many secrets. For too long, women had buried their ambitions and their intelligence, succumbed to the law of the land made by men, and put up with behaviour and situations no man had a right to impose on them.’

Our lead Martha is wonderful - everyone needs a Martha in their workplace for sure. She is a brilliant protagonist in being both relatable and likeable for a woman of her era. The cheers are loud when she finally tells people they can make their own cup of tea! The themes that Victoria places throughout bring such a richness to an already vibrant and worthy tale. Sexism in the workplace, gender inequality, aging, female health issues, immigration - are just some of the themes addressed in this engaging read. 

I love learning about and from history, and once more Victoria has taken her readers on an incredible journey. I don’t think I fully appreciated the impact of the era of radio before the introduction of television on a nation. Woven into that is an incredible tale that is right in line with Victoria’s last few novels of the role of women at a time of change and, indeed, changes that still need to be faced and tackled in some ways. An engaging, emotive, enjoyable read that I highly recommend. 

‘That was what Martha could pass on to the next generation: the hope of something more.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.