The Radio Hour

Yesterday, Victoria Purman‘s novel The Radio Hour got its US release (less than a year after its original publication in Australia). Set in Sydney in 1956, it follows fifty-year-old Martha Berry and her unexpected and ultimately impactful role in radio broadcasting. This novel highlights women’s rights and how “it’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Why I Chose This Book:

I love the subject of radio broadcasting and storytelling through such a medium. When I was in college, one of my two majors was Communication, so reading about broadcasting is always interesting for me. The Radio Hour also caught my attention for its focus on working women in 1950s Australia.

What I Liked:

• Older main character than I usually read: she turns 50 towards the beginning of the book
• Dealing with unqualified, incompetent men…
• Finally getting more respect in the workplace (even if it is two decades late!)
• Martha steps up to write stories for a radio serial, often borrowing from her own life
• Drawing inspiration from other women who didn’t get the respect they deserved in their lifetime (including authors like George Eliot and Charlotte Brontë)
• Shining a light on women’s working rights, women’s health, workplace harassment, and immigrant lives
• Excerpts of Martha’s radio show, As the Sun Sets
• Humor (including the so-called Calendar Girls)
• “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

Final Thoughts

The Radio Hour unfolds layer by layer into a novel that I really loved. Martha is unlike other characters I read, both for her age (50) and the fact that she’s never married or had any romantic relationship. She’s never had significant goals, and I loved watching her blossom here, after over 20 years at her job. This novel brings readers into the world of radio broadcasting, rights and challenges women faced, and how you can find yourself at any age.

Special thanks to Victoria Purman, Harper Muse, Austenprose PR, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Radio Hour here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Radio Hour by Victoria Purman
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fiction
Setting	Australia
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	February 4, 2025 (US release)
Publisher	Harper Muse

Official Summary

A charming and funny look at the golden years of radio broadcasting in post-war Australia that celebrates the extraordinary but unseen women who captivated a nation with their authentic stories of ordinary lives.

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 the 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 finally step into the spotlight.