The 1920’s is one of my favorite eras. The changes are coming to the world with women getting more rights, women working in a man’s world, and so much more. Sara-Jane Stratford has done her research. The writing it true to the era, the characters are realistic, and the story is amazing.

Radio Girls takes place when the BBC is just starting. I am not familiar with the BBC and the start of radio but in doing a little researched I realized that this could be a true story. The characters are behaving as women and men did in that time. The jobs are ones that revolve around the radio. Even the guest speakers were real people. I admire an author who is realistic to a time and takes liberties only to improve the story or make the story clearer to the reader.

Maisie is a great character. Her history is not so great yet she shows her strength by moving to a different country to serve as a nurse then finding a job that she enjoys while having no formal education. The perseverance that she shows in keeping the job and working well with Hilda proved her strength to me over and over. There were times in her story that I felt sorry for her and the life she was forced to live but then in the next sentence I would be proud of how she managed to stand up for herself.


This is a wonderful book. The story is well developed, the character extremely realistic, and the facts are well researched. I look forward to reading more by Sara-Jane Stratford.

This was an enjoyable historical fiction read. It was interesting to see the early days of the BBC and the conflict between two visions of programming and what radio should be--before anyone knew what radio should be.

Set in London in the 1920s, Radio Girls is a fictionalized account of the early days of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Being from the USA, I don't really have much knowledge of the BBC prior to this book. In my mind, I always thought of it as being the radio form of our PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) here in America.

Maisie, the main character, starts off timid & meek, but I really enjoyed seeing her development & growth throughout the story. At the start of the book, Maisie's only aspiration in life is to get married. Basically, she takes the BBC job as a means to support herself until Mr. Right shows up in her life. I loved the fact that Maisie started at the BBC as a typist, but eventually worked her way up through the ranks, discovering a hidden ambition that she didn't realize she possessed. The uncovering of this ambition was thanks to her BBC boss, Hilda. Hilda took Maisie under her wing and became a mentor to Maisie. I really enjoyed their relationship throughout the book. Far too often women in books are cutting each other down, so it was refreshing to see a positive female relationship full of support.

Radio Girls has some wonderful feminist tones throughout the book. I highly enjoy reading historical fiction that brings to light women’s contributions to history. While this book focused on women's contributions to early radio, we also were seeing women starting to enter the work force post WWI, and snippets of the women's suffrage movement in England during this time. After reading books like this, I always have a new found appreciation for all the women who have came before me and worked hard to further the rights of women.

This is a fictionalized account, however many of the characters were real people. I found Hilda Matheson particularly fascinating, and was delighted to find out that the portrayal of her early contributions to the BBC in Radio Girls was not fiction. After I read this book, I did some more research on Hilda in real life. Stratford appears to have stayed true to Hilda Matheson's life, which I always appreciate. If I am being honest, I would have loved for the story to have been told in Hilda's perspective or even a dual perspective with Hilda & Maisie. I feel awful for saying this, but Hilda was a much more interesting character than Maisie.

I do have a few criticisms of Radio Girls. First off, this book can be a little sluggish at times. I'm not one to scoff at slower paced historical fiction, BUT there were times I started skimming. I think this is in part caused by the author's overly descriptive writing style. Secondly, there are a few odd subplots (romance subplot, spy/investigation subplot, etc etc) that felt like they were thrown in without proper development.

Overall, Radio Girls was a book with a fascinating premise: a look at the early contributions of women in BBC radio. There were delightful feminist tones throughout, which always makes my heart happy. I appreciated the insight the author gave us into lesser known history and after reading this book I was compelled to do a little research of my own into the real people featured in this book. Unfortunately portions of the book felt sluggish and some of the secondary characters outshined the main character.

If you are a fan of historical fiction that features women's contributions to history, I'd recommend this one to you. Also, if you’ve already read Radio Girls & enjoyed it, I’d recommend Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend. The stories are not similar, but they had similar tones & themes.

*3.75 Stars*

*Big thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be dull, and really had a hard time concentrating on the story. I did not finish it because I was not able to connect with the MC and the plot did not seem to be going anywhere. The character development wasn’t well executed, and felt no problem just DNF’ing this one. I wasn’t interested in the story or what happened, and am only giving this two stars because some of the secondary characters were a bit more interesting and the story had potential.

Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
NAL, 2016
Fiction (Historical); 384 pgs
Source: I received this book from the Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Radio Girls was such fun. I loved it. From a historical aspect alone, the novel ignited the researcher in me, making me want to learn more about the people I was reading about. Journalism has long been an interest of mine and reading about the early days of the BBC was intriguing. Newspapers were always the source of news for many people, but the radio took it to a different level, bringing voices into the homes of anyone who owned a radio in an instant. The main character, Maisie, may be fictional as is the espionage aspect of the novel, but quite a few characters throughout the novel are real historical figures--including Lady Astor and literary greats such as H.G. Wells and Virginia Woolf.

Maisie just needed a job. An American trying to make her way in London (anything to avoid returning to the U.S. and her actress mother), she needed the income. She leaves her interview with the BBC knowing she didn’t pass muster, but the next thing she knows, she is starting the next week as a secretary. Serving both the formidable Director-General, John Reith, and the Director of Talks, the extraordinary Hilda Matheson, Maisie has her work cut out for her.

With growing unrest in Europe and the collapse of the economy in the United States, there is a strong sense of worry in the air in terms of just how England will be impacted. No one wants to be drawn into a war, and men who lost a lot of money in U.S. investments are suddenly desperate.

Maisie has a good eye for detail and it is that, in part (and the encouragement of Nora), which motivates Maisie to unofficially start looking into possible espionage. What starts as innocent puzzle solving turns into a more dangerous game, one that could very well put Maisie’s life on the line. She is sure in her cause, however, and willing to take the chance.

I saw a lot of growth in Maisie’s character over the course of the novel. She’s rather unsure of herself in the beginning, but her confidence grows over time. Society was on the cusp of major changes as a whole, tradition versus progress, both vying for position. We see that clearly with Maisie’s character who, in the beginning, aspires to a job which will lead to marriage to a man who will be able to take care of her. Certainly the influence of women like Nora play a part in Maisie’s change in attitude as time goes by. She realizes just what she is capable of and that she does have other opportunities open to her. As a result, a new found confidence takes her far.

There are still hurdles to overcome obviously. Women are only just getting the right to vote, and there are many who are skeptical of whether that is a good thing. Even at the BBC where women sometimes held powerful positions, they were still expected to quit once married and pregnant with child. Tradition has strong roots and change does not generally come easy, especially because it involves long held beliefs and practices. At that time in history, society wasn’t ready to accept same sex relationships, which were not only considered immoral, but also criminal. I wondered how Maisie would react to Nora’s secret once she discovered it, and appreciated how the author dealt with it. It is clear throughout that Maisie has a lot of respect for Nora, and admires her. I felt the same way. I loved Nora and have a lot of admiration for all she accomplished not only in the book, but especially in real life.

The mystery aspect of the novel may have stretched believably, but I wasn't bothered by that as I was reading. I found myself holding my breath a few times at the close calls and eager to see how everything would play out. I was caught up in the lives of the characters and the historical time period. I thoroughly enjoyed Radio Girls, and look forward to reading more by Sarah-Jane Stratford.