It's 1940 and 20 year-old Charlotte Richmond watches from her attic window as enemy planes fly over London. Still grieving her beloved brother, who never returned from France, she is trying to keep herself out of trouble - holding down a typist job at the Ministry of Information, sharing gin and confidences with her best friend Elena, and dodging her overbearing father.

On her way to work she often sees the boy who feeds the birds - a source of unexpected joy amid the rubble of the Blitz. But every day brings new scenes of devastation and, after yet another heart breaking loss, Charlotte has an uncanny sense of foreboding. Someone is stalking the darkness, targeting her friends. And now he's following her.

As grief and suspicion consume her, Charlotte's nerves become increasingly frayed. She no longer knows who to trust. She can't even trust herself.

The Midnight News is a love story, a war story, and an unforgettable journey into the fragile mind and fierce heart of an extraordinary young woman.

Episode One
London, 1940. The reality of war begins to sink in for Charlotte.

Jo Baker is the author of bestselling Longbourn, the 'below the stairs' story of the Bennet household from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She was born in Lancashire and educated at Oxford University and Queen's University Belfast and is also the author of The Body Lies; A Country Road, A Tree; The Undertow; The Telling; The Mermaid's Child; and Offcomer. She lives in Lancaster, England.

Writer: Jo Baker
Reader: Rachael Stirling
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producers: Caroline Raphael & Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Show less