Serialised novel takes listeners back
Ruby and Edie navigate 1950s life in Palmerston North
1954 Palmerston North. The main trunk line runs through The Square. Queen Elizabeth dined at C.M. Ross Co Tearooms. Radio was in its golden age — and it is via traditional and modern airwaves that people can now enjoy rural Manawatu¯ writer Rachel Dore’s first novel, which is set in 1954.
A Respectable Veneer has been serialised and voiced by Auckland voice artist, book narrator and actress Romy Hooper.
She has narrated more than 30 audiobooks and won the New Zealand Speech Board Best Communicator Award for 2017.
Each episode airs on Manawatu¯ People’s Radio on Mondays at 8pm and can be listened to afterwards at mpr.nz/show/respectableveneer, or search for A Respectable Veneer wherever you get your podcasts.
The novel tells the story of Ruby Barton and her 10-year-old daughter Edie. They arrive in Palmerston North with no luggage, very little money and no plan, having fled life on the fringe of the criminal underworld in Auckland.
Life is hard for a single mother in a society where codes of morality and rules are maintained by ostracism and shaming, but Ruby is determined to reinvent herself.
A Respectable Veneer has elements of homosexuality and violence and references to child abuse.
It was published by Upstart Press in March.
The narration has been made possible by funding from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust, with collaboration from Manawatu¯ People’s Radio (MPR).
MPR content co-ordinator Hugh Dingwall has long been keen for people to use the station’s resources for creative projects like serialising novels. MPR is well-used for sharing music and interviews, and promoting organisations.
Dore has written the recaps for radio listeners tuning in each week, which Dingwall has voiced.
The book has been made into 35 episodes about 25 minutes long with the last one due to air on July 1.
Dore is pleased with how the serialisation has turned out and says she really likes the way Hooper increases her pace from gentle to intense as the story of Ruby and Edie unfolds.
Dore is in the middle of writing her next novel. Set in 1959, with rock ‘n’ roll ringing in the ears of Palmerston North residents, it is the sequel to A Respectable Veneer.
Dore is having fun researching the era and talking to people who were teenagers then.
She also presents Words From The Bubble on MPR, a weekly chat with New Zealanders who know about writing and books.