Recorded live at Capital Crime Book Festival, Philippa talks to Ellie Levenson about her brilliantly genre-defying novel Room 706 — described by her own agent as "thrilling but not a thriller."
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:
Your Top 3 Holiday Reads
The End of Summer – Charlotte Philby
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.
Dead Heat – Sabine Durrant
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.
Still Life – Sarah Winman
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.)
Ellie Levenson on Room 706
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?
Ellie and Philippa discuss:
- The "women who are clever but tired" genre Ellie has unofficially invented
- Why her agent suggested splitting the book into three timelines — Kate meeting her husband, meeting her lover, and the real-time hotel room scenes
- Why complicated, morally grey characters make for the best book club arguments
- The brilliant audiobook adaptation that surprised even Ellie with how "acted" it felt
- The original title, Hotel Sonder, and why it had to change after she kept seeing the word everywhere
- 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
Ice cream order: Chocolate, coffee, and nut — multiples of three, naturally, with a cone for garnish.
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