{"podcast":{"title":"Ask Penguin","slug":"ask-penguin-555431","podcast_index_feed_id":555431,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/d2a69c65-3300-4484-abcb-ea3e7d712478","website_url":"https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/podcast","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/60eecae845fc69e6c03398b2/1759395784307-946f7f84-df95-4115-8e44-621373467698.jpeg","author":"Penguin Books UK","episode_count":266,"summary":"What should I read next? Ask Penguin is the podcast where your quirkiest, trickiest, and most urgent book questions get answered. Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, we bring bestselling authors and Penguin insiders to explore some of your favourite books and discover new ones that you are yet to read. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-16T10:21:13.437335+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431"},"episode":{"title":"What makes a setting feel so vivid it becomes a character? With Paula Hawkins","slug":"what-makes-a-setting-feel-so-vivid-it-becomes-a-character-with-paula-hawkins","published_at":"2025-12-04T00:05:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431/what-makes-a-setting-feel-so-vivid-it-becomes-a-character-with-paula-hawkins","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431","url":"https://shows.acast.com/thepenguinpodcast/episodes/what-makes-a-setting-feel-so-vivid-it-becomes-a-character-wi","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/thepenguinpodcast/e/692f05727e5e771058ac40a1/media.mp3","summary":"Which novels are truly unputdownable and what should you read on a dark winter's night? We’re joined by best-selling author, Paula Hawkins , who discusses art, love and remote islands in her latest thriller, The Blue Hour . She also helps us tackle your listener questions with a stack of gripping recommendations to guide you to your next great read. Explore all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, she moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller  The Girl on the Train  became a global phenomenon, selling over 23 million copies. Published in over fifty languages, it was a No.1 bestseller around the world and a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt. Paula's subsequent thrillers have all been instant  Sunday Times  bestsellers. In 2021  A Slow Fire Burning  was nominated for Thriller of the Year at the British Book Awards, and in 2025  The Blue Hour  was voted the  Good Housekeeping  Good Books winner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Which novels are truly unputdownable and what should you read on a dark winter's night? We’re joined by best-selling author, Paula Hawkins , who discusses…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3039,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ask-penguin-555431/episodes/what-makes-a-setting-feel-so-vivid-it-becomes-a-character-with-paula-hawkins/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ask-penguin-555431/what-makes-a-setting-feel-so-vivid-it-becomes-a-character-with-paula-hawkins.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}