This month on My Life in Books, host Red Szell is joined by Joanna Toye, a novelist who cut her writing teeth on the world’s longest-running drama series, The Archers, rising to become its leading scriptwriter, senior producer and its most trusted chronicler.

Since 2019, Joanna has been enthralling readers with her Shop Girls series of novels. Set in the fictional town of Hinton, just outside Birmingham in the English Midlands, the series follows the fortunes of the staff at Marlow’s, the town’s department store as they battle to keep calm and carry on during the Second World War. Packed with drama, social history, perseverance and a sense of community, the series has found a particularly receptive audience since the onset of the pandemic.

Together, Joanna and Red will explore some of the main themes and plotlines of the series as well as the books that have inspired Joanna as a storyteller. They will also be joined by narrator and voice actor Becky Wright, who brought the audiobook versions of the Shop Girls to life. About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians

with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and

AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform

AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of

accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities

through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal.

To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

- X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia

- Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio

- Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

- TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc

- Email [email protected]

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

for information about our collection and use of personal data for

advertising.