It's 1989 and for a young Jewish-Australian violinist, a scholarship to Berlin is the chance of a lifetime. Germany is on the verge of change as the wall is torn down, and Susanna is swept along by the tumultuous event. Under the careful guidance of Stefan Heinemeyer, her renowned violin teacher and the grandson of a Nazi, she begins a composition in memory of her grandmother, Mirla, who died in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Second World War, and Susanna is inspired to retrace Mirla's final footsteps.

It's a journey that reconnects Susanna to her heritage and propels her musical gift to extraordinary heights. Yet as a forbidden yearning for Stefan begins to unfurl, Susanna's life is forever changed, and the repercussions will echo through decades and across continents.
In a world where history, society and inherited traumas threaten to silence Susanna and prevent her from ever becoming her true self, can she find the courage to reclaim her power as a woman, a musician, and a composer, and in so doing, lay her haunted past to rest?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Shelley Davidow about her own experience of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the consequences of love and history across time and generations, and the Berlin of today, decades after that dramatic moment in 1989.

The most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines. Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a British beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back.

Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm. Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Michael Robotham about how he came to be a writer of international crime fiction, the course of developing his two main characters Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac, and what continues to drive him as a writer.

Meg’s life is woven into the fabric of St. Stephens. It’s a tapestry made of two precious children, a hidden truth, and a husband whose ideas of a perfect wife do not match her own. When Meg puts her foot down on a third kid, gets a job, and is empowered by the same book group that was meant to keep her in her place, her marriage begins to disintegrate. Set in a tiny Mormon community, this is a novel about resilience and courage – the fierceness of mother-love and the power that comes with never forgetting who you really are.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Katherine Allum about the desert of the American Southwest as the perfect setting for a novel brimming with tension, what it is feel out-of-place in a mormon community, and the power of mother love in rediscovering one's identity

During the Second Sudanese Civil War, thousands of South Sudanese boys were displaced from their villages or orphaned in attacks from northern government troops. Many became refugees in Ethiopia. There, in 1989, teacher and community leader Mecak Ajang Alaak assumed care of the Lost Boys in a bid to protect them from becoming child soldiers. So began a four-year journey from Ethiopia to Sudan and on to the safety of a Kenyan refugee camp. Together they endured starvation, animal attacks and the horrors of landmines and aerial bombardment. This eyewitness account by Mecak Ajang Alaak’s son, Yuot, is the extraordinary true story of a man who never ceased to believe that the pen is mightier than the gun.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Yuot Alaak about life for the Dinka people of South Sudan before the civil wars, the terrible life for a child soldier, and the wonders of arriving in the city of Adelaide as a Sudanese refugee.

In this enticing new cookbook, Dr Clare Bailey shows you how to create fabulous bakes, sweet treats and desserts with recipes that are low in sugar, high in protein yet irresistibly delicious!

From family favourites such as brownies, cheesecakes and crumbles to healthy cupcakes and bite-size muffins, The Fast 800 Treats Recipe Book brings you sweet treats and savoury snacks that won't send your blood sugars soaring. Featuring 80 indulgent recipes that make use of healthy and natural ingredients, plus top tips on ingredient swaps and how to weave these recipes into your Fast 800 Programme, this book is full of snacks and treats for every occasion.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Dr Clare Bailey about the fundamentals of the Fast 800 Keto diet, why snacks can still be part of a healthy diet, how to reset the sweet palate, and the many tasty and healthy substitutes that are available to use in place of processed ingredients to create delicious treats the whole family can enjoy.

As a boy, Gerard McCann was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at his local church. As a grown man, he confronts the trauma of what he suffered and the psychological aftermath of his experience, grappling with shame, guilt and the devastating impact it had on his family, relationships and sense of self. Despite what he endured, Gerard’s story is one of hope and healing, of acknowledging pain and seeking support, of honesty and justice.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Gerard McCann about the extremes of devotion his family had to the Catholic faith, the moral dilemma he harboured as a child, and the dissection of a long-held secret that led to the writing of this book and a pathway to healing.

Some people are born into bad situations, some people have bad situations thrust upon them, and some people find bad situations through their dodgy choices, lack of information and personal idiosyncrasies. Julia’s life sits at the intersection of all three.

From high school dropout on a psych ward to card-carrying lesbian on a motorbike, from enduring a controlling relationship with her ex-lover’s brother to being chased by a media scrum outside a Perth court, the life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Julia Lawrinson about a childhood characterised by domestic dysfunction and intergenerational misery, and how her love of reading and writing became both an escape and a pathway to a career as an award-winning author of books for children and young adults.

Thrown out of the pack for being a weakling, Laurence the Wolf is down on his luck. He knows he’s strong, and brave, and cool, but nobody else seems to think so. What’s more, he’s STARVING. A clever plot to gobble up Little Red Riding Hood once and for all is foiled by all the creatures of the fairytale forest and just as things are getting desperate, he catches a whiff of something delicious. Could those be . . . vegetables?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Ben Miller about why Lawrence, the Big Bad Wolf, has taken to writing a diary, why Lawrence has been thrown out of the wolf pack and why he likes to tell stories from the point of view of the bad guy.