1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to this Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:12,973 Speaker 1: from News Talks at b It. 3 00:00:12,933 --> 00:00:16,133 Speaker 2: Is twenty to twelve, which means Catherine Rains, our book reviewer, 4 00:00:16,333 --> 00:00:19,373 Speaker 2: standing by with her picks for this weekend. Hey, Catherine, 5 00:00:19,413 --> 00:00:23,373 Speaker 2: Let's start off with Nine Hidden Lives, written by Robert Gold. 6 00:00:23,813 --> 00:00:28,733 Speaker 3: So this story centers on the murder of a journalist, 7 00:00:29,053 --> 00:00:32,493 Speaker 3: a Koja, and she was killed thirty years previously, and 8 00:00:32,573 --> 00:00:35,893 Speaker 3: her killer has never been found, and she'd been working 9 00:00:36,053 --> 00:00:40,413 Speaker 3: on some cases and exposing some domestic abuse. And so 10 00:00:40,453 --> 00:00:43,173 Speaker 3: thirty years later her door, her daughter, who's now a 11 00:00:43,213 --> 00:00:46,853 Speaker 3: doctor and works as a GP, is determined to uncover 12 00:00:47,013 --> 00:00:49,173 Speaker 3: the truth and she en lists the help of an 13 00:00:49,213 --> 00:00:53,253 Speaker 3: investigative journalist, a guy called Ben Harper, and both live 14 00:00:53,333 --> 00:00:57,133 Speaker 3: in the town of Hadley. And it's quite packedless secrets 15 00:00:57,173 --> 00:01:00,613 Speaker 3: this town, and these residents add a real layer of intrigue. 16 00:01:00,653 --> 00:01:03,653 Speaker 3: And some are helpful and some are clearly hiding some things, 17 00:01:03,733 --> 00:01:06,613 Speaker 3: and some are people that you just really don't want 18 00:01:06,613 --> 00:01:09,653 Speaker 3: to meet. And so after all of these years, she 19 00:01:09,773 --> 00:01:13,253 Speaker 3: really firmly believes that someone must know what happened to 20 00:01:13,333 --> 00:01:16,293 Speaker 3: her mother. But people have been keeping secrets for so 21 00:01:16,493 --> 00:01:19,213 Speaker 3: long that now they'll do whatever they can to keep 22 00:01:19,253 --> 00:01:21,653 Speaker 3: themselves safe, and the more the two of them dig, 23 00:01:21,733 --> 00:01:25,653 Speaker 3: the more dangerous and threatening things become. And the first 24 00:01:25,653 --> 00:01:28,373 Speaker 3: half of the book almost begins quite slowly, and the 25 00:01:28,373 --> 00:01:32,973 Speaker 3: building of events and the characters and meeting those characters, 26 00:01:33,093 --> 00:01:35,973 Speaker 3: and when it all starts to meld together, all of 27 00:01:36,013 --> 00:01:38,733 Speaker 3: a sudden, all of the secrets are being revealed. And 28 00:01:38,733 --> 00:01:41,973 Speaker 3: it's a very cleverly potted tale as this whole story 29 00:01:42,013 --> 00:01:45,013 Speaker 3: melds together, and it's also about a reflection of past 30 00:01:45,053 --> 00:01:47,453 Speaker 3: events and the change life brings, and just the way 31 00:01:47,533 --> 00:01:49,933 Speaker 3: Robert Gold managed to tie all of their stories together 32 00:01:50,093 --> 00:01:51,253 Speaker 3: was very well done. 33 00:01:51,493 --> 00:01:54,813 Speaker 2: Nice, okay, cool, And it's Nine Hidden Lives by Robert Gold. 34 00:01:55,013 --> 00:01:58,533 Speaker 2: You've also read Strangers in Time by David Balbarci, so 35 00:01:58,573 --> 00:01:58,933 Speaker 2: this is a. 36 00:01:58,933 --> 00:02:03,253 Speaker 3: Real departure from his previous novels. He's normally more thriller 37 00:02:03,333 --> 00:02:06,653 Speaker 3: and set in modern time, and this one revolves around 38 00:02:06,693 --> 00:02:08,973 Speaker 3: the London Blitzeres of nineteen forty four, so you have 39 00:02:09,013 --> 00:02:12,253 Speaker 3: that backdrop of World War two German aircraft bombing London, 40 00:02:12,413 --> 00:02:15,693 Speaker 3: and he paints this picture of these unlikely people getting 41 00:02:15,693 --> 00:02:18,013 Speaker 3: together to help each other. And so one of those 42 00:02:18,093 --> 00:02:20,813 Speaker 3: characters is Charlie Matters, and he lives with his grandmother 43 00:02:21,293 --> 00:02:23,413 Speaker 3: and following the deaths of his parents, and so that 44 00:02:23,613 --> 00:02:26,293 Speaker 3: in this one room apartment without much food to survive, 45 00:02:26,853 --> 00:02:29,213 Speaker 3: Charlie's dropped out of school and he's stealing what he 46 00:02:29,293 --> 00:02:32,253 Speaker 3: can and he works jobs for a few shillings. And 47 00:02:32,253 --> 00:02:36,093 Speaker 3: then he's Molly Wakefield, who has been raised completely differently 48 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:39,253 Speaker 3: in luxury, and she's returned from the countryside where her 49 00:02:39,253 --> 00:02:42,453 Speaker 3: parents had sent her years before, and when she returns home, 50 00:02:42,533 --> 00:02:45,533 Speaker 3: she finds only her nanny and no one really seems 51 00:02:45,573 --> 00:02:47,933 Speaker 3: to know where her parents are, and so they end 52 00:02:47,973 --> 00:02:51,293 Speaker 3: up meeting each other. And these two teens are thrown 53 00:02:51,333 --> 00:02:55,173 Speaker 3: together with another person, a bookstore owner called Ignatius O 54 00:02:55,213 --> 00:02:58,253 Speaker 3: Oliver who's grieving the loss of his wife, and they 55 00:02:58,333 --> 00:03:01,013 Speaker 3: all need to help each other, but they suspect each 56 00:03:01,013 --> 00:03:04,293 Speaker 3: other of different things. And with these bombs raining down 57 00:03:04,533 --> 00:03:06,813 Speaker 3: night after night, it's not just about the war. They 58 00:03:06,853 --> 00:03:09,613 Speaker 3: have an adventure in there's mystery and heartbreak and how 59 00:03:09,933 --> 00:03:14,333 Speaker 3: these people from incredibly different backgrounds and this unamenable hardship 60 00:03:14,373 --> 00:03:16,813 Speaker 3: that they're going through and that loss and the tragedy 61 00:03:16,813 --> 00:03:19,973 Speaker 3: can help each other. And Baldoucci is particularly good at 62 00:03:20,013 --> 00:03:23,853 Speaker 3: creating really good characters that are complex and vulnerable but 63 00:03:23,933 --> 00:03:26,333 Speaker 3: at the same time unraveling their secrets to the reader. 64 00:03:26,413 --> 00:03:29,173 Speaker 3: And it's just it was brilliant storytelling and it's well 65 00:03:29,173 --> 00:03:29,453 Speaker 3: worth a. 66 00:03:29,453 --> 00:03:33,053 Speaker 2: Read, so good. Thank you. That's Strangers in Time by 67 00:03:33,173 --> 00:03:37,253 Speaker 2: David Baldachi, Catherine's first pick nine Hidden Lives by Robert Gold, 68 00:03:37,253 --> 00:03:39,173 Speaker 2: and all the details for both of those books will 69 00:03:39,213 --> 00:03:43,293 Speaker 2: of course be on the News Talk's EDB website for. 70 00:03:43,333 --> 00:03:46,413 Speaker 1: More from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live to 71 00:03:46,493 --> 00:03:49,653 Speaker 1: News Talks EDB from nine am Saturday, or follow the 72 00:03:49,653 --> 00:03:51,133 Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.