Today it's has been a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Ambridge at War by Catherine Miller. Ambridge at War is fully authorised by BBC Radio 4, and Catherine Miller, has had exclusive access to the world of The Archers, to create a compelling and faithful novel about what might have happened.
In this wonderful new novel celebrating the 70th anniversary of the beloved radio show, follow the lives of the families of Ambridge before it all began…
About the Author
Catherine Miller is the author of 18 novels under her own name and other pseudonyms. Born to an Irish family in London, her career took her from producing radio commercials to being a voiceover agent for various stellar actors. Nowadays she writes all day at home in Surrey, occasionally lifting her head to raise her daughter and feed the dogs. She writes fiction by day and listens to the Archers by night.
Follow Catherine on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy The Archers: Ambridge at War
Jeremy Howe, editor of The Archers, has worked closely on Ambridge at War, providing crucial behind-the-scenes insights into the nations favourite radio drama.
It’s 1940 and war has broken out. It is midnight at the turn of the year, and Walter Gabriel speaks the same line that opened the very first radio episode – 'And a Happy New Year to you all!' For Ambridge, a village in the heart of the English countryside, this year will bring change in ways no one was expecting.
From the Pargetters at Lower Loxley to the loving, hard-working Archer family at Brookfield Farm, the war will be hard for all of them. And the New Year brings the arrival of evacuees to Ambridge, shaking things up in the close-knit rural community.
As the villagers embrace wartime spirit, the families that listeners have known and loved for generations face an uphill battle to keep their secrets hidden. Especially as someone is intent on revealing those secrets to the whole village . . .
BBC Radio 4’s The Archers has aired over 19,000 episodes since the first pilot in 1951, and has nearly 5 million regular listeners. In the quarter October – December 2019 it was also the most popular on demand radio programme on BBC Sounds.
The Archers might not be something the younger generations will recognise, although they may have heard their grandmothers or parents talk about this infamous long-running radio show and audio soap opera of its day. It has a solid loyal audience.
Listening to the radio seems to be a little bit of a lost art. I mean really listen to a story or something like the fictional world of The Archers, as opposed to songs, ads and just for the popular breakfast DJ. One of my guilty pleasures as a child was listening to The Whistler late at night, both shows are precursors to the modern audiobook.
If you have never listened to an episode of The Archers before then perhaps this delightful book can be seen as an open invitation to join them. Even with no prior knowledge it's a read steeped in delightfully quirky and eccentric rural village life. Everyone knows everyone else's business, and yet there always seems to be a secret or two. In a world that is once more dealing with the frustration, pain and destruction of war a little semblance of normality, even the village kind, can bring people closer together.
I shall end this review with the highest praise for Catherine Miller for being able to immerse herself so completely in the fictional world that has been listened to by so many since the 1950s and being able to to give readers the Archers we know so well, in this story set before that radio time period. The Archers before we came to love and expect to hear their voices - a prequel to the 19000 strong episode story. She has absolutely captured the world of The Archers accurately.
Buy The Archers Ambridge at War at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Simon & Schuster UK pub date 29 Oct. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.
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