You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talk SEDB.

You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin from News Talk SEDB.

Joey McKenzie joins me now to talk books. Good morning, Good morning. I am so excited. I just love Nile Williams.

Joey McKenzie joins me now to talk books. Good morning, Good morning. I am so excited. I just love Nile Williams.

I'm so glad to find another adoring fan.

I'm so glad to find another adoring fan.

Oh the way he writes, it's just beautiful.

Oh the way he writes, it's just beautiful.

Yes, it is so Anybody listening who values and loves really fine writing should immediately go out and get a copy of Time of the Child by Nile Williams. It's set in a small Irish village and it's centered around the local doctor, a man called doctor Jack Troy, who lives with his unmarried daughter Ronnie, and they've got a fairly pedestrian, quiet life because he's the village doctor. He's kind of set apart from the rest of the community and everybody respects him, but nobody interferes with his life. And one day a young boy comes across a baby who's been abandoned and thinks that the right thing to do is to give it to the doctor, who will then make the appropriate decisions about what should happen. But when this baby is given to the doctor and his daughter, they simply cannot bear to give it up. It is beautifully done. It's one of those books where I almost had to read every sentence twice because he has an extraordinary gift for words and for atmosphere and for putting things together. And it's impossible for me actually to say how good this book is.

Yes, it is so Anybody listening who values and loves really fine writing should immediately go out and get a copy of Time of the Child by Nile Williams. It's set in a small Irish village and it's centered around the local doctor, a man called doctor Jack Troy, who lives with his unmarried daughter Ronnie, and they've got a fairly pedestrian, quiet life because he's the village doctor. He's kind of set apart from the rest of the community and everybody respects him, but nobody interferes with his life. And one day a young boy comes across a baby who's been abandoned and thinks that the right thing to do is to give it to the doctor, who will then make the appropriate decisions about what should happen. But when this baby is given to the doctor and his daughter, they simply cannot bear to give it up. It is beautifully done. It's one of those books where I almost had to read every sentence twice because he has an extraordinary gift for words and for atmosphere and for putting things together. And it's impossible for me actually to say how good this book is.

My mother put me on too him. But the problem was, and my mother is an avid reader and has an awful lot of books, but she has a very small pile of do not lend because they are so special to her. And I understand that that she just doesn't want to risk never getting it back. And Nile's books are all in that pile.

My mother put me on too him. But the problem was, and my mother is an avid reader and has an awful lot of books, but she has a very small pile of do not lend because they are so special to her. And I understand that that she just doesn't want to risk never getting it back. And Nile's books are all in that pile.

Yeah, I don't think he's nearly as widely known as he deserves to be. This book, I describe it as being sublime. It really is.

Yeah, I don't think he's nearly as widely known as he deserves to be. This book, I describe it as being sublime. It really is.

Okay, well, that's mum's birthday. Sort it bring him to that she's not listening. Oh no, I'll tell her because she'll go out and try and grab it. The Voice Inside by John Farnan. We've been hearing a little bit about this memoir that he has written and some of the fascinating stories that he has to share.

Okay, well, that's mum's birthday. Sort it bring him to that she's not listening. Oh no, I'll tell her because she'll go out and try and grab it. The Voice Inside by John Farnan. We've been hearing a little bit about this memoir that he has written and some of the fascinating stories that he has to share.

Yeah, fascinating. He was born in England and emigrated to Australia at the age of nine with his family. He as a teenager, became an apprentice plumber, but he was very interested in music, and as he got more and more gigs, he decided that he'd give full time music a go. And I was particularly charmed by the bit in the book where he had to attend a hearing in front of the Victorian Apprentice Commission to see whether or not he could be released from his apprenticeship. But clearly he was because he went on to have a terrific career. He had a manager called Daryl who was based in Adelaide and knew South Australia very well, so the first part of John Farnham's career was very much traveling hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kilometers around South Australia. What he didn't realize for quite some time, because he was a very naive, sweet young man, was that Darryl had been drugging him for years, putting amphetamines in his drinks at night to keep him up singing all night, and then giving him sleeping stuff in the morning so that he could knock him out for the rest of the day, and it took him a long time to work out that that was happening, but also that Daryl was ripping him off right left in center. He became famous, and some listeners may recall this for the song Sadie the Cleaning Lady, which his record company essentially forced him to record against his better.

Yeah, fascinating. He was born in England and emigrated to Australia at the age of nine with his family. He as a teenager, became an apprentice plumber, but he was very interested in music, and as he got more and more gigs, he decided that he'd give full time music a go. And I was particularly charmed by the bit in the book where he had to attend a hearing in front of the Victorian Apprentice Commission to see whether or not he could be released from his apprenticeship. But clearly he was because he went on to have a terrific career. He had a manager called Daryl who was based in Adelaide and knew South Australia very well, so the first part of John Farnham's career was very much traveling hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of kilometers around South Australia. What he didn't realize for quite some time, because he was a very naive, sweet young man, was that Darryl had been drugging him for years, putting amphetamines in his drinks at night to keep him up singing all night, and then giving him sleeping stuff in the morning so that he could knock him out for the rest of the day, and it took him a long time to work out that that was happening, but also that Daryl was ripping him off right left in center. He became famous, and some listeners may recall this for the song Sadie the Cleaning Lady, which his record company essentially forced him to record against his better.

Judgment, because I didn't realize he had this. I just think of him as sort of the rock pop star. No, I had no idea he had this early career.

Judgment, because I didn't realize he had this. I just think of him as sort of the rock pop star. No, I had no idea he had this early career.

He did almost sort of manufactured early career. And he's probably most well known in Australia and possibly here for the album he made called Whispering Jack, which is still the biggest selling record ever made by an Australian and the third biggest selling record ever overall in Australia. So an extraordinary career. Some listeners may remember that last year when there was a referendum being held in Australia called The Voice, he gave his song The Voice to be the anthem of the referendum and so it was widely played and he had quite a big comeback. He had a tough career because there was a point where his record company just turned their backs on him. And he was left defend for himself and wasn't sure he'd ever make it back. And then in twenty twenty two he was diagnosed with oral cancer and had a very rough time. So this is triumph over adversity. I will say it is not one of those rock and roll sex and drug books. He met his wife, I think he was twenty three, she was nineteen. They've been together ever since. And I said he was a very sweet, naive young man at the beginning. I think he's still a very sweet man.

He did almost sort of manufactured early career. And he's probably most well known in Australia and possibly here for the album he made called Whispering Jack, which is still the biggest selling record ever made by an Australian and the third biggest selling record ever overall in Australia. So an extraordinary career. Some listeners may remember that last year when there was a referendum being held in Australia called The Voice, he gave his song The Voice to be the anthem of the referendum and so it was widely played and he had quite a big comeback. He had a tough career because there was a point where his record company just turned their backs on him. And he was left defend for himself and wasn't sure he'd ever make it back. And then in twenty twenty two he was diagnosed with oral cancer and had a very rough time. So this is triumph over adversity. I will say it is not one of those rock and roll sex and drug books. He met his wife, I think he was twenty three, she was nineteen. They've been together ever since. And I said he was a very sweet, naive young man at the beginning. I think he's still a very sweet man.

And now it's a two very different books for you today. Time of the Child by Nile Williams and also The Voice Inside by John Farnham. Thanks Joan, see you next week.

And now it's a two very different books for you today. Time of the Child by Nile Williams and also The Voice Inside by John Farnham. Thanks Joan, see you next week.

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to News Talks there'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.

For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen live to News Talks there'd be from nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.