The Hidden Village by Imogen Matthews - Audio Book Tour
Author: Imogen Matthews
Narrator: Liam Gerrard
Length: 9 hours and 48 minutes
Publisher: I M Associates
Released: May 31, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction
Wartime Holland. Whom can you trust?
Deep in the Veluwe woods lies Berkenhout, a purpose-built village of huts sheltering dozens of persecuted people. But the Germans can find no proof of its existence. The whole community pulls together to help the Berkenhout inhabitants adjust to a difficult new life and, above all, stay safe.
Sofie, a Jewish Dutch girl, struggles to adapt to living in Berkenhout, away from her family and friends. As weeks turn to months, she’s worried they’ll abandon her altogether. Young tearaway Jan likes to help, but he also enjoys roaming the woods looking for adventure and fallen pilots. His dream comes true, until he is found out. Henk is in charge of building the underground huts and organizing provisions to Berkenhout, but his contact with the Germans arouses suspicions.
Whom can you trust? All it takes is one small fatal slip to change the course of all their lives forever.
Imogen Matthews is English and lives in the beautiful University town of Oxford. Before she wrote The Hidden Village, she published two romantic fiction e-novels under her pen name, Alex Johnson. The Hidden Village is published by Amsterdam Publishers, based in the Netherlands.
Imogen has strong connections with the Netherlands. Born in Rijswijk to a Dutch mother and English father, the family moved to England when Imogen was very young.
Every year since 1990, Imogen has been on family holidays to Nunspeet on the edge of the Veluwe woods.
It was here that she discovered the story of the hidden village, and together with her mother’s vivid stories of life in WW2 Holland, she was inspired to write her next novel.
To learn more about the author, please visit www.imogenmatthewsbooks.com.
Imogen has strong connections with the Netherlands. Born in Rijswijk to a Dutch mother and English father, the family moved to England when Imogen was very young.
Every year since 1990, Imogen has been on family holidays to Nunspeet on the edge of the Veluwe woods.
It was here that she discovered the story of the hidden village, and together with her mother’s vivid stories of life in WW2 Holland, she was inspired to write her next novel.
To learn more about the author, please visit www.imogenmatthewsbooks.com.
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Liam is an Irish born voice-artist with over 10 years experience working in every field of the voice industry. His recent varied audiobook work includes the ‘Deception of a Highlander’ series of 3 books, Little Caesar for Audible, A Christmas Carol, The Tempest and Aviation Training. His regular corporate voice-clients include: Shell, BP, HMRC, HSBC, Hilton, Mondelez, Cadburys, Green & Blacks and many more. He has performed many radio-plays, narrations, animations and documentaries; from the Keith Moon biography to most Shakespeare radio-plays.
He is also an Associate Lecturer in Broadcast Voice and ‘Acting for Radio’ at Sheffield Hallam University.
He is a communication skills specialist and examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal Scottish College of Surgery and as such is highly fluent in complicated medical reads with Latin pronunciations.
He is also a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor. He studied at Lancaster University and then as a classically trained actor at Mountview. He spent his formative years in the Middle-East which has given him an understanding of different accents and cultures and is able to perform many accents to a native standard; including most UK regions, most Irish regions, most of Europe, Australia and North America, (hillbilly, New York, mid-Atlantic, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and is also able to create wildly inventive characters. He has lent his voice to some of the zaniest cartoons and animations written, from grumpy old wizards, to heroes, to South-American monkeys and even a sea-horse with a Scottish accent!
He is currently the youngest actor to play the lead role of Prospero in Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’ in London's West–End. His recent production of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh won 4 prestigious Critic’s Choice Awards. He has worked for the most renowned theatre companies; from The Royal Exchange Theatre (2 Manchester theatre award nominations) to most regional theatres throughout the UK, including Alan Aykbourn’s SJT, New Vic, Oldham Coliseum, Donmar, Dukes, Nottingham Playhouse, Theatre by the Lake and many more. He also played Jerry in ‘Hollyoaks’ and appeared alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Hollywood feature film ‘Death Defying Acts’. His wide-ranging experience has also seen him perform Opera in ‘Rigoletto’.
In his spare time Liam is also a musician, playing violin, drums, piano and percussion, and spends time with Peg, his Springer Spaniel, out in the Peak District whenever he can get away from the studio!
He is also an Associate Lecturer in Broadcast Voice and ‘Acting for Radio’ at Sheffield Hallam University.
He is a communication skills specialist and examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal Scottish College of Surgery and as such is highly fluent in complicated medical reads with Latin pronunciations.
He is also a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor. He studied at Lancaster University and then as a classically trained actor at Mountview. He spent his formative years in the Middle-East which has given him an understanding of different accents and cultures and is able to perform many accents to a native standard; including most UK regions, most Irish regions, most of Europe, Australia and North America, (hillbilly, New York, mid-Atlantic, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and is also able to create wildly inventive characters. He has lent his voice to some of the zaniest cartoons and animations written, from grumpy old wizards, to heroes, to South-American monkeys and even a sea-horse with a Scottish accent!
He is currently the youngest actor to play the lead role of Prospero in Shakespeare's ‘The Tempest’ in London's West–End. His recent production of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh won 4 prestigious Critic’s Choice Awards. He has worked for the most renowned theatre companies; from The Royal Exchange Theatre (2 Manchester theatre award nominations) to most regional theatres throughout the UK, including Alan Aykbourn’s SJT, New Vic, Oldham Coliseum, Donmar, Dukes, Nottingham Playhouse, Theatre by the Lake and many more. He also played Jerry in ‘Hollyoaks’ and appeared alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Hollywood feature film ‘Death Defying Acts’. His wide-ranging experience has also seen him perform Opera in ‘Rigoletto’.
In his spare time Liam is also a musician, playing violin, drums, piano and percussion, and spends time with Peg, his Springer Spaniel, out in the Peak District whenever he can get away from the studio!
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- When did you know you wanted to be an audiobook narrator?
Difficult to say
really; as a stage actor it was a field of work I always wanted to get into but
never had the time really. As I started
getting more and more into voiceover work I started to persue it properly around
5 or 6 years ago
- How did you wind up narrating audiobooks? Was it always your goal or was it something you stumbled into by chance?
It was a natural
progression really. I’m always keen to challenge myself in areas I’m not
familiar with. I’d done stage and
tv/film for 10 years with no voiceover work at all and was keen to get into
voiceover work. I always saw audiobooks
as the ‘peak’ of voiceover work.
- Did you find it difficult to “break into” audiobook narration? What skill/tool helped you the most when getting started?
Yes; more so than
corporate voiceover narration; the standards in terms of stamina and
consistency are incredibly high and expectations are understandably high. The requirements of a high quality studio
also necessitate a considerable amount of investment. The biggest skill - tool that helped me was
being a classically trained stage actor; where the focus is on voice. Projection, vocal stamina, an understanding
of pitch, tone, timbre and dynamics was most helpful.
- A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?
I cant say it was
essential; but it is most definitely the experience that I have. My background is in theatre.
- What type of training have you undergone?
Bachelors degree in
theatre from Lancaster University, degree from Mountview Academy of theatre
Arts, Masters in Arts from University of East Anglia, constant training in rep,
various voiceover work and I’m also an associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam
University in voice where I run the voiceover course.
- How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for narrating?
Oh I’m terrible at
this. I’m a workaholic and ALWAYS take
on too much!
- What are your favorite and least favorite parts of narrating an audiobook?
Half at through a
dull book is tough, when your behind schedule and things crop up and there are
noise interferences; road digging etc!
8. How closely do you prefer to work with authors?
It depends; sometimes
I have no communication at all with them, and sometimes there is constant
communication. I prefer less contact so
I have the freedom to fly with my own creativity with the
9. If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes,
when and where would you go?
Yes of course!
Definitely go back to Nazareth to meet Jesus just to say hello and see what it
was all about. THAT would be a good audiobook!
10. Who is your “dream author” that you would like to record for?
JK Rowling. Charles Dickens. JRR Tolkien, anyone who writes vivid
characters. Dickens is possibly the king
here.
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