Radio Girls (46 page)

It perhaps goes without saying that I wanted to write this book because of Hilda Matheson. She was such an extraordinary woman, and seemed to embody the adage of truth being stranger than fiction. If I have made her a bit too perfect, well, that was hard to help. According to many who knew her—admittedly writing after her untimely death—her flaws were an excess of passion and a determination to see through what she felt to be right, despite strenuous opposition. Even though this led to her downfall at the BBC, she never wavered—and it didn't hurt her throughout her (too few) remaining years.

Because the real history was so fascinating, I wanted to use as much of it as possible. However, it was imperative that the story itself come first, this not being a literary biography, and so I strove to weave fact and fiction together as seamlessly as possible.

While there are some sources that begin Hilda's tenure at the BBC commencing in 1927, I decided to have her start in 1926 (per some other sources) because I liked the energy of her coming in to change the BBC soon after the national General Strike.

I knew I wanted to fold in Hilda's real-life membership in MI5. The facts that she had been recruited to MI5 by T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia); helped set up the MI5 office in Rome in 1918; and was there when they hired a young Italian journalist with a gift for propaganda to help keep Italy in the war—a certain Benito
Mussolini—were just too delicious to leave out. While she wasn't really involved with the organization after World War I, she apparently kept a hand, or at least an ear, in. As my story developed, with the fictional Maisie a budding journalist, it felt right that Hilda, so engaged with current events and always thinking toward the future, would take heed of quality propaganda and that she and Maisie would ultimately work together as they discovered the intents of the Nazis were intertwined with the agenda of the British Fascists and aimed at taking over the BBC. This last is pure fiction, extrapolating from Goebbels' real comment that a takeover of German radio in 1923 would have forwarded the Nazi cause immeasurably. The British Fascists may not have specifically mentioned the BBC, but it felt reasonable that they would have seized the inspiration and seen the opportunity to consolidate their message and power through this powerful new medium.

The fear of foreign spies was indeed paramount during this era. The 1920s in Britain were deeply complex times, as the nation had been financially and emotionally devastated by World War I, and many of the returning soldiers found that they could not secure employment. Economic uncertainty remained high, and there was a lot of anxiety surrounding societal changes. The lines were drawn between tradition and progressivism, as exemplified so neatly by Hilda and Reith, despite their being contemporaries and both children of Scottish Presbyterian ministers.

The spies people feared in the 1920s were Russian, and the panic was about Bolshevism. Though trade unions and the Labour Party were not communist—and in fact, the Communist Party of Great Britain at its peak enjoyed a membership of about sixty thousand—it was common practice to associate the push for unionization with communism. This of course was a useful straw man for fascists.

As I read about concerns of spying, both genuine and trumped up, I became convinced that this concern, combined with the rise of the BBC and some people's fears of it, was a thread I must weave into the narrative. It seemed natural that Hilda, thanks to her involvement in Italy, would have spotted the brilliance of the early Nazi
propaganda and wondered if it was something worth worrying about, especially as Fascism garnered interest in Britain. I was inspired by a few real-life MI5 operations during World War II, particularly the Jack King sting, and chose to use threads of this story for my rising journalist and producer, Maisie, and her mentor, Hilda.

I particularly wanted to highlight the early complicity of corporations. The 1927 propaganda pamphlet
Road to Resurgence
was felt to make some headway in attracting corporate money to the Nazi Party at a time when they were considered marginal at best. It did lay out that the Nazis, despite calling themselves socialists and using proworker rhetoric in speeches, were in fact antiunion and would do much to assist corporations become richer. I chose Siemens and Nestlé as companies whose business relationship with the Nazis is well-known, although they did not establish ties until later than the timeline I present. I wanted to use more than one company to indicate that it was the involvement of many people with money and influence who helped fascism take hold, and did so primarily in the hopes of garnering yet more money and influence.

The BBC was very progressive in the 1920s and urged to be less so following the economic downturn. Reith was very ready to comply with this. However, the BBC, despite Reith's Puritanism, was one of the few entities where women could hold positions higher than clerical staff and men and women received equal pay. While it did institute a marriage bar, this was only nominally put into practice. Mary Somerville, the Director of Schools, was both married and a mother during her tenure at the BBC, and indeed took maternity leave. I deliberately kept the directorship of Schools Broadcasting nebulous, as Mary Somerville was its first director but was not given the title until 1931. She was, however, one of the first women to work as a producer at the BBC, and she was in Schools all that time.

One of my biggest changes regards Charles Siepmann, whose initial position was actually in Adult Education Programming. As the nature of the programming seemed so close to both Schools and Talks, I felt it read more clearly to have him in Schools and thus
streamline the narrative. This was especially the case as the whole idea of “shaping the minds of the youth” runs lightly through the book and Siepmann's willingness, as I portray it, to toe the more conservative line made it feel right that he would be specifically in Schools, one of Reith's most prized departments in my rendition. I was also very imaginative with Siepmann's characterization, using his conservatism and his preference for hiring men (as noted in an internal memo) over women to inform his behavior and speech.

While the relationship between Reith and Hilda began to decline not long after Hilda's tenure at the BBC began, Hilda herself thought that Lionel Fielden, himself gay, “accidentally” outed her to Reith, which thus marked her for dismissal before the Harold Nicholson incident. The journalistic coup is wholly fictional, but Hilda's determination to resign rather than submit to censorship is real.

My only composite character is Ellis, whom I based loosely on Maxwell Knight, the head of MI5 and, apparently, one of the models for M in the James Bond series. I chose to make him a composite because Knight was said to have Fascist sympathies.

Maisie is a wholly fictional character, as is her initial job straddling the two offices. I wanted to place someone at the center of these volatile characters, with Reith, the traditionalist, and Hilda, the progressive. In one of Hilda's letters, she refers to her need for a capable young woman to whom she could readily delegate. She did secure a fine secretary and assistant, but I preferred to keep my character free of any of their qualities so as to allow her to follow her own inclinations and instincts.

I was fairly inventive in my rendering of the studios, as most of the controls were not so close to the microphones, but I wanted to keep the engineers more in the mix.

Nearly all of the Talks programs mentioned are real titles. This is especially true for
The Week in Westminster
, developed by Hilda in 1929 and broadcast to this day on Radio 4, though it is now more of a summation of political events of the week.

If there are things I have forgotten to mention, or details I have
left out or mistaken, these are all faults of the author for which apologies should be considered duly made.

A brief biography:

H
ILDA
M
ATHESON
, OBE
(1888–1940)

Hilda Matheson attended what was then called the Society of Oxford Home Students, now called St Anne's College. She was not technically a graduate, as women were not allowed to obtain degrees until 1920. She worked for MI5 during the war and afterward became political secretary to Lady Astor. After her wildly popular tenure at the BBC, and in the wake of her much-discussed resignation, Lady Astor attempted to have her made a BBC governor. Hilda declined, instead becoming a radio critic and columnist, and then writing the first comprehensive book on broadcasting,
Broadcasting
(1933), alluded to in this novel. This remained the only textbook in use on radio broadcasting until the late 1960s (some say early 1970s). She later worked with Lord Hailey on producing the African Survey, published in 1938, taking on most of the work when Hailey became ill. This garnered her OBE in 1939. She became involved with Dorothy Wellesley, the duchess of Wellington, beginning in 1932, and it was by all accounts a long, stable, happy relationship. Hilda returned to MI5 at the commencement of World War II, working as director of the joint broadcasting committee. Among other work, she prepared instructions in wartime broadcasting including propaganda. Despite her unexpected death during surgery in 1940 (she died of Graves' disease), these instructions were so thorough, they were used throughout the remainder of the war.

You can find more biographies of real people mentioned in this book at
www.sarahjanestratford.com.

Researching and writing this book was a joyous yet arduous experience, and I cannot fully enough express my gratitude for the many people who gave me such tremendous help in a variety of ways as I crawled to the finish line.

As Maisie says, librarians are an endless source of assistance. Three libraries in particular were invaluable to me: the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College, and especially Barbara Blumenthal. The Bienecke Collection at Yale, whose invaluable staff was also so kind as to mail back the hat I accidentally left in the locker. UCLA library—where a certain lovely mother (mine!) is happily one of the librarians—was especially terrific in allowing me a long loan of Hilda's book,
Broadcasting
, which was a wonderful talisman to keep at hand while I worked.

I spent a lovely two weeks researching in Britain, where I was hosted by one of my oldest and dearest friends, the writer Allie Spencer, and her wonderful husband, Christopher Daniell, and their two fantastic sons, Matt and Jamie.

Enormous thanks are due the BBC Written Archives Centre in Caversham and Archives Researcher Jeff Walden. The wealth of material was such that I could have happily wallowed in it for weeks.

The generosity of Kate Murphy, author of
Behind the Wireless: An Early History of Women at the BBC
, is simply unparalleled. Not only did she invite me into her lovely London home, where we spent a
wonderful day discussing Hilda and the BBC, but she also allowed me to access what was nothing less than an absolute gold mine of information, photographs, recordings, and ephemera. For anyone who wants to learn more about Hilda and other real pioneering women at the BBC, Kate's book is a treasure.

I was immeasurably lucky to be in London soon after the opening of the Science Museum's exhibit Information Age, which featured the original 2LO transmitter, described in this book, among other radio treasures. John Liffen, the Curator of Communications and Electricity Supply, very kindly gave of his time to guide me through the exhibit and tell me more about the 2LO and 1920s broadcasting.

Luck continued in that Hilda's house on Sumner Street is about a five-minute walk from the Science Museum, so I was able to pay it a visit and take pictures. I hope it will soon bear a blue plaque marking Hilda's residence there.

Jon Cable, the assistant archivist at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, was so kind as to give me a tour of Savoy Hill House, show me photos, and answer a number of questions.

Back in the US, I am beyond grateful for the sanctuary that is Paragraph Writers Space and all my many friends there. Special shout-outs to readers, champions, and purveyors of hugs and cookies: Allison Amend, Kate Bernstein, George Black, Athos Cakiades, Lisa Dierbeck, Elyssa East, Sophie Jaff, Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, Rebecca Louie, Ilana Masad, Amy Meng, Caroline Rothstein, Sia Sotirakis, Laura Strausfeld, and Cynthia Weiner! And so many others—we are a very special community.

Special thanks always to my agent, Margaret O'Connor of Innisfree Literary, who is not only a tireless champion but also a good friend.

I was lucky to work with two terrific editors on this book. First, Ellen Edwards, who saw the potential and took a chance, and then Kate Seaver, whose perspective and passion helped strengthen and deepen the story.

Many, many friends were endless sources of love and support. One superspecial shout-out to Melinda Klayman, my oldest friend
and “sister,” who is always a critical champion. I got to spend time with her, her terrific husband, Michael Zbyszynski, and their amazing little daughter, Anya, in both the early and the final days of piecing the story together. Though this book doesn't have a specific dedication, it's girls like Anya I have in mind—girls I hope will grow up unafraid to use their voices.

Further hugs to Sarah Canner, Jen Deaderick, Nathan Dunbar, Rob Intile, Amanda Kirk (another major hero during the final crunch), Karol Nielsen, Alisa Roost, Joe Wallace, Jerry Weinstein, and so many, many more. I am very lucky.

Hilda and Maisie have been very good friends to me as well. I am sorry to bid them goodbye, but if I may quote the inimitable Carol Burnett, “I'm so glad we've had this time together.”