Two California writers who both had long non-literary careers before publishing these heralded first works join Suzanne M. Lang in conversation on this episode of A Novel Idea. Barbara Ridley’s When It’s Over is a sweeping historical fiction set during WWII that exposes elements of that war and on European refugees that resonates today …and is a pretty good love story too.

Laurie Ann Doyle’s collection of short stories, World Gone Missing, is a loving homage to Northern California and twelve searing tales of loss, love, and what goes missing.