{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6087d3aca4a81031ba098a59/6a3eba5c3fba7ccd9cd0d1a4?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Your Top 3 Holiday Reads + Ellie Levenson on Room 706 - Summer Special","description":"<p>Recorded live at <strong>Capital Crime Book Festival</strong>, Philippa talks to <strong>Ellie Levenson</strong> about her brilliantly genre-defying novel <em>Room 706</em> — described by her own agent as \"thrilling but not a thriller.\"</p><p>But first, the results are in! After asking listeners for their top three holiday book recommendations, here are the three that came out on top:</p><p><strong>Your Top 3 Holiday Reads</strong></p><p><strong>The End of Summer</strong> – Charlotte Philby</p><p>A woman's carefully constructed past unravels when journalists turn up on her daughter's doorstep. A story of reinvention, secrets, and a mother who might never have been who she claimed.</p><p><strong>Dead Heat</strong> – Sabine Durrant</p><p>A struggling journalist joins old friends at their house in Greece for the summer — until a wealthy newcomer's lavish parties stir up envy, resentment, and an accident that may not have been an accident at all.</p><p><strong>Still Life</strong> – Sarah Winman</p><p>A wartime encounter in a ruined Tuscan wine cellar changes the course of two strangers' lives forever. (Philippa admits this is the one book club pick almost everyone loves except her — and she suspects a reread is overdue.)</p><p><strong>Ellie Levenson on Room 706</strong></p><p>Inspired by a very relatable fantasy — booking a hotel room alone, with no one needing anything from her — Ellie's novel asks: what if a tired mother checked into a hotel just to be alone, and then couldn't leave?</p><p>Ellie and Philippa discuss:</p><ul><li>The \"women who are clever but tired\" genre Ellie has unofficially invented</li><li>Why her agent suggested splitting the book into three timelines — Kate meeting her husband, meeting her lover, and the real-time hotel room scenes</li><li>Why complicated, morally grey characters make for the best book club arguments</li><li>The brilliant audiobook adaptation that surprised even Ellie with how \"acted\" it felt</li><li>The original title, <em>Hotel Sonder</em>, and why it had to change after she kept seeing the word everywhere</li><li>Her next book — another \"middle-aged woman stepping outside her lane,\" and her fascination with hotels, parks, and other places where strangers' lives briefly intersect</li></ul><p><strong>Ice cream order:</strong> Chocolate, coffee, and nut — multiples of three, naturally, with a cone for garnish.</p><p><strong>Get in touch</strong></p><p>Quick Book Reviews Facebook Group | Instagram | <a href=\"mailto:quickbookreviews@outlook.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">quickbookreviews@outlook.com</a></p><p><em>Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.</em></p><p><br></p><p></p><p><br></p>","author_name":"Philippa Hall"}