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.

 

Review: A Woman's Work

Title: A Woman's Work

Author: Victoria Purman

Publisher: 5th April 2023 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 368 pages

Genre: historical fiction, women’s fiction 

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

The astonishingly rich prize of the 1956 Australian Women's Weekly cookery competition offers two women the possibility of a new kind of future, in this compassionate look at the extraordinary lives of ordinary women - our mothers and grandmothers - in a beautifully realised post-war Australia.

It's 1956, and while Melbourne is in a frenzy gearing up for the Olympics, the women of Australia are cooking up a storm for their chance to win the equivalent of a year's salary in the extraordinary Australian Women's Weekly cookery contest.

For two women, in particular, the prize could be life-changing. For war widow and single mum Ivy Quinn, a win would mean more time to spend with her twelve-year-old son, Raymond. Mother of five Kathleen O'Grady has no time for cooking competitions, but the prize could offer her a different kind of life for herself and her children, and the chance to control her own future.

As winter turns to spring both women begin to question their lives. For Kathleen, the grinding domesticity of her work as a wife and mother no longer seems enough, while Ivy begins to realise she has the courage to make a difference for other women and tell the truth about the ghosts from her past.

But is it the competition prize that would give them a new way of seeing the world - a chance to free themselves from society's expectation and change their own futures - or is it the creativity and confidence it brings?

My Thoughts

Victoria Purman writes wonderful historical fiction and A Woman’s Work is her latest brilliant addition. On this occasion she takes readers back to 1956 with two women living different lives in the same Melbourne suburb. With themes of courage and strength, Victoria uses a cookery contest as the impetus for change. 

Firstly I loved being immersed in the Melbourne of 1956! Television was coming along with the Olympics and there were still reflections of a world war so recently over. Victoria covers a number of issues and through outstanding research, all are covered with knowledge and heart. From domestic violence and homosexuality, to contraception (the pill just starting to be spoken of) and abortion. Victoria could not have presented a better platform to raise such topical issues. The two contrasting women’s tales - one a single mother, the other a mother of five - was likewise critical and clever in demonstrating the many constraints placed on women of this era.

‘When had her life become an endless, endless cycle of breakfast and lunch and dinner and washing and cleaning and scrubbing and wiping and mopping and scolding and child-holding and disciplining and being a wife?’

Secondly, I just loved the many cultural references of the era. I am a child of the 70s, however, so many things felt homely and familiar (I miss Salvital!) Whether it be the Woman’s Weekly itself (my mother LOVED magazines - still does), the chore of washing clothes, deciding on the standard weekly family menu, the sharing of baths or clothes, the darning when something as simple as catching your stockings on the vinyl edge of a seat, to tales of dripping as opposed to this new product called margarine - so many things that made me smile with familiarity. 

‘You might find that love of cooking again, Kath. It’s something women have to do - day in and day out, week in and week out - so why not put some fun back into it’

I applaud Victoria in her Author’s Note where she expresses her view that ‘to fully tell the truth about the past, it’s important to be honest about it’. I agree 100%! That is why this novel is the perfect depiction of all the many and varied trials and tribulations women endured in the late 1950s. Yet through the often dark days of despair, something as simple as the possibility of winning a cooking competition could shed a new light on life and open the window to new possibilities. Camaraderie, friendship and hope neatly bring balance to this well rounded tale. 

I truly loved A Woman’s Work and highly recommend it. 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. 

‘She had exercised a choice and it had become her secret and her power’

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.

Review: The Nurses' War

Title: The Nurses' War

Author: Victoria Purman

Publisher: 30th March 2022 by Harlequin Australia & HQ Fiction

Pages: 600 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, World War II

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

There is more than one way to fight a war...An extraordinary story of grit, love and loss, based on the true history and real experiences of Australian nurses in World War 1. In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House - donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners - she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers.

As the months pass, her mission to save diggers lives becomes more urgent as the darkest months of the war see injured soldiers from the battlefields of France and Belgium flood into Harefield in the thousands. When the hospital sends out a desperate call for help, a quiet young seamstress from the village, Jessie Chester, steps up as a volunteer. At the hospital she meets Private Bert Mott, a recuperating Australian soldier, but the looming threat of his return to the Front hangs over them. Could her first love be her first heartbreak?

Cora's and Jessie's futures, their hearts and their lives hang in the balance as the never-ending wave of injured and dying soldiers threatens to overwhelm the hospital and the hopes of a nation rest on a knife edge. The nurses war is a war against despair and death, fought with science and love rather than mustard gas and fear - but can they possibly win it? And what will be the cost?

My Thoughts

I am always eager to read Victoria’s books as I reliably come away so much richer for the experience. Her previous tales are testimony:  The Women’s Pages had me googling and reminiscing on my mother’s life stories; The Last of the Bonegilla Girls saw me actually paying a visit to Bonegilla! So it was with great anticipation that I started her latest, The Nurses’ War.

The story moves at a steady pace over an extended time period, thus allowing connections to form with the lead characters. Connections of empathy and understanding for all they would endure and experience. At first it was much like an adventure to arrive at a new hospice located in a beautiful English Manor. However, things soon change with the arrival of the first patients.

‘Sometimes it was a shock to wake in the morning with the realisation that 

another day had dawned and she would have to do it all again.’

The Nurses' War is a story based on real events and experiences of Australian nurses in WWI. Being based on fact always makes it hit home that much harder. Victoria’s writing certainly brings the human face to the horrors that were witnessed at Harefield House and beyond. Still, it is all dealt with compassionately but realistically, as Victoria does not shy away from the reality of the situation. These were people who demonstrated such bravery and courage with incredible strength of character that, at times, what you read is startling, sobering and heartbreaking. 

‘When she closed her eyes, she still saw destruction and waste and agonies. She saw her boys: the shattered ones. The limbless ones. The faceless ones … She saw wooden huts and duckboards and mud and rain and the beautiful English summer sunshine. 

All of it was still with her, and would forever be.’

I love learning about and from history and once more, Victoria has taken her readers on an incredible journey. I was unfamiliar with the story behind this hospital and in awe of not only the conditions they worked under but the sheer volume of what confronted these nurses on a daily basis. The research, once again Victoria, is astounding and presented in the most impactful way. This is a must read for all historical WWII historical fiction fans. 

‘Harefield is like a mansion of broken hearts ...' 

Letter from an Australian soldier, 7 September 1916   

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.

Review: The Women's Page

Title: The Women's Page

Author: Victoria Purman

Publisher: 2nd September 2020 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, women’s fiction, 

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of The Land Girls comes a beautifully realised novel that speaks to the true history and real experiences of post-war Australian women.

Sydney 1945 The war is over, the fight begins.

The war is over and so are the jobs (and freedoms) of tens of thousands of Australian women. The armaments factories are making washing machines instead of bullets and war correspondent Tilly Galloway has hung up her uniform and been forced to work on the women's pages of her newspaper - the only job available to her - where she struggles to write advice on fashion and make-up.

As Sydney swells with returning servicemen and the city bustles back to post-war life, Tilly finds her world is anything but normal. As she desperately waits for word of her prisoner-of-war husband, she begins to research stories about the lives of the underpaid and overworked women who live in her own city. Those whose war service has been overlooked; the freedom and independence of their war lives lost to them.

Meanwhile Tilly's waterside worker father is on strike, and her best friend Mary is struggling to cope with the stranger her own husband has become since being liberated from Changi a broken man. As strikes rip the country apart and the news from abroad causes despair, matters build to a heart-rending crescendo. Tilly realises that for her the war may have ended, but the fight is just beginning... 

My Thoughts

‘Her problem was she’d had a taste of a different life and didn’t want to give it up.’

The Women’s Pages is another winning historical fiction story by Victoria. I read and enjoyed her previous work and therefore understand that Victoria undertakes the kind of research that brings the day to day living of those she is writing about to life. On this occasion it surrounds the role of women towards the end of WWII and immediately afterwards. The war may be over but the real struggle for women is just beginning. 

‘They thought we would all step back into the shadows, where no doubt most of them think we should have always been. But the shadows are full of secrets.’

This tale takes a detailed look at Australian society at this time - what women had been expected to do during the war and how that role changed once the soldiers returned home. Women, who achieved so much in their war effort support, struggled to let go of their new found independence whilst dealing with the men they sent off to war, returning as somewhat strangers. I loved the descriptions of post war Sydney with Victoria undertaking a detailed investigation of the many confrontational issues of the day and a definite social commentary alongside. These women dealt with uncertainty through the war years and now faced the prospect of not only losing their job, but if their men did return the horrendous outfall of PTSD. If they did not return, there was the overwhelming grief. This is a truly interesting period in Australian history and Victoria definitely does it justice. Reading made me reflect on my mother’s stories about her family and this is a book I am sure she would enjoy. 

‘You’ll find plenty to write about on the women’s pages, Tilly. Good stories. Interesting stories.’ ‘Interesting stories?’ she gasped. ‘If they’re that interesting why are they sent to the back of the paper? When was the last time a woman’s story made the front page?’

The only concern is Victoria’s great love of research often involves large information dumps. Sadly, this often takes away from the narrative as momentum is lost in the storytelling for the inclusion of detailed intricacies. Detail on everything from feminism, government, war atrocities, PTSD, housing crisis, wharf front issues, trade unions, communism, returning soldiers, workplace politics, gender pay gaps - the list is quite long. One can only wonder if the book may have been better served with fewer topics that tied in pertinently to key characters. I want more story and less history lesson. 

Overall Victoria has compiled an engaging tale about family life and relationships at this turning point in Australian culture. Dealing with the legacy of the old whilst carving out the new. It valiantly shone the spotlight on the women who fought to break free of a solely domestic role in search of greater independence. 

‘These women had had a taste of independence, of the freedom of their own pay packet and of the kind of camaraderie that comes with growing to know the people you work alongside.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Last of the Bonegilla Girls

Title:  The Last of the Bonegilla Girls

Author: Victoria Purman

Publisher: 23rd April 2018 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 352 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, womens fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

For readers of The Woolgrower's Companion and The Three Miss Allens… Their friendship transcends nationality and background, but can it overcome the horrors of the past?

A post-Second World War story of strong female ties and family, secrets and lies, set in the multicultural Australia of the fifties. Can the Bonegilla girls defeat their past? Or will it come to claim them?

1954: When sixteen–year–old Hungarian Elizabeta arrives in Australia with her family, she is hoping to escape the hopelessness of life as a refugee in post–war Germany. Her first stop is the Bonegilla Migrant Camp on the banks of the Murray in rural Victoria, a temporary home for thousands of new arrivals, all looking for work and a better life. There, Elizabeta becomes firm friends with the feisty Greek Vasiliki; quiet Italian Iliana; and the adventurous Frances, the daughter of the camp's director.

In this vibrant and growing country, the Bonegilla girls rush together towards a life that seems full of promise, even as they cope with the legacy of war, the oppressive nature of family tradition and ever–present sorrow. So when a ghost from the past reaches out for Elizabeta and threatens to pull her back into the shadows, there is nothing that her friends wouldn't do to keep her safe.

But secrets have a way of making themselves known and lies have a way of changing everything they touch...

My Thoughts

‘They had been friends when they were young, when they were able to celebrate the freedoms of a new life in Australia, thrown together by the circumstance of being at Bonegilla at the same time.’

The Last of the Bonegilla Girls is the tale of four girls from different backgrounds and their friendship over a lifetime. It is a heartwarming, yet at times, heartbreaking tale which spans not only their generation, but introduces the next as well. It begins at the Bonegilla migrant camp and then follows them through their lives after their departure, as they embark on a new post war life in Australia. These girls remain friends and, apart from letter writing, share a few reunions over the years as well.

What I appreciated most about this story was the research. I have not read a great deal about this time period in Australia and really appreciated not only the history of migrants to Australia at this particular time period, but I felt that the author conveyed a fairly accurate  portrayal of life in Australia for everyone especially during the 1950s. Even with time period jumps to the 1970s and later, although briefer, there was still a true representation.

‘The Australians … they want us to come and do all the dirty jobs, to work in the dirt and the heat and the cold, to dig underground for the Snowy, to grow their food and work in their factories. But they don’t really want us to be Australians.’

With the book spanning decades, it was therefore difficult for a satisfactory amount of detail in both person and place to be conveyed to my liking. So after the initial detail of life at the migrant camp, things jumped around quite a bit and the depth began to diminish. With the underlying theme centred around how to compliment a life that brought together the old and new, the author did a good job. I felt how the European girls were torn in their attempts to placate both culture and family with trying to assimilate into a new society.

‘Some people just don’t like new Australians’

As mentioned, there is heartbreak in this read. Maintaining the old ways brought pain and sorrow with many a secret held onto. So whilst reunions brought some joy, especially with their children and then grandchildren, there was also resignation about what could never be for them. So from this point of view, it was sad, however, there was promise for a different life in the society their children were to grown up in. All up a worthy read, especially if you are interested in this particular time period in Australian history.

‘I can’t help but think … well, I can’t help but think about what might have been. Between the two of us. The time just wasn’t right, was it?’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release