The Archers Unseen: A secret history of Ambridge (Hardback) - Julie Beckett

Blossom Hill Cottage - a secluded place with a dark past. It's where Peggy discovered her husband Jack was an alcoholic, and it's also where Helen stabbed her husband Rob, desperate in the face of his manipulation and control.

And on to stately pile Lower Loxley - the Pargetters are proud of their centuries-old heritage, but how did Elizabeth arrive there, after her own turbulent early years, at odds with her family?

This knowing excavation of Ambridge delights in the follies and everyday mischief of the inhabitants of England's most famous village. Location by location, via the Bull and the occasional barn, the narrator takes us behind closed doors and picks up on all sorts of whispers around money, births, deaths and marriages, and romance and sex (often in inappropriate places ...)

In this canny, in-world exploration of Britain's best-loved soap, we see how every relationship, each personal triumph and disaster, and all the hopes and dreams of a community over the years are folded into the personal stories of the characters we know so well today.

About the Author

Julie Beckett has listened to The Archers since birth. She has been working in Ambridge since 1998, and has produced, devised, written, edited and directed countless stories in that time. She previously worked for BBC School Radio. This is her first book.