Which multi-generational novels inspired White Teeth? Where does Zadie Smith turn for her next great read? And our Penguin team is back to solve your reading dilemmas - whether you're after fascinating memoirs, this year's pick of prize-winning books, or stories perfect for Autumn.

Discover all the books mentioned on this episode: Click here

Zadie Smtih is one of the most distinctive, exciting and widely loved writers of her generation: she’s the twice shortlisted, once winner of the Women's Prize, also shortlisted for the Booker and has been twice named among Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. Her debut, White Teeth, blazed onto the best-seller lists, and established her as a defining generational voice. Her follow-up work includes the critically and commercially acclaimed NW, On Beauty, and Swing Time. Zadie Smith’s latest work is Dead and Alive: the keenly awaited new collection of essays, in which she brings her unique skills and observations to bear across a dazzling range of subjects.

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What was the inspiration behind Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights series? How does he want readers to feel on Lyra’s final adventure in The Rose Field? Has his demon changed now that he has got to the end of this writing journey, and how do you say goodbye to characters you love?

In this special edition of Ask Penguin, host Rhianna Dhillon visits Philip Pullman at his Oxford home, surrounded by books (and barking cockapoos), to mark thirty years since the world met Lyra Belacqua in Northern Lights. The two reflects on a lifetime of storytelling and returning to Lyra’s world one final time in the conclusion of The Book of Dust series, The Rose Field.

Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here: here

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Philip Pullman is one of the most highly respected children's authors writing today. Winner of many prestigious awards, including the Carnegie of Carnegies and the Whitbread Award, Pullman’s epic fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials has been acclaimed as a modern classic. It has sold 17.5 million copies worldwide and been translated into 40 languages. In 2005 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. He lives in Oxford.

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Why do we still love Jane Austen’s novels 250 years later? What makes her stories continue to inspire readers and creators today? And if Jane were alive now, which book would you recommend she read?

In this special episode, recorded at Jane Austen’s family home in Alton, host Rhianna Dhillon is joined by Miss Austen author and president of the Jane Austen Society, Gill Hornby, alongside author and creator of the West End show Austentatious Andrew Hunter Murray, to explore Austen’s legacy and provide some regency-inspired book recommendations.

Discover all the books mentioned in this episode here: Jane Austen Episode

Visit Jane Austen’s home: janeaustens.house

To put a question to future podcast guests, and for exclusive content and book giveaways, join our Broadcast channel on Instagram: @PenguinUKBooks

Gill Hornby is a writer and journalist. Her novels Miss Austen and Godmersham Park were Sunday Times bestsellers, and Miss Austen was adapted into a four-part BBC drama starring Keely Hawes as Cassandra Austen. She is also the President of the Jane Austen Society.

Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer, broadcaster and comedian. His first novel, The Last Day, was a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller, and one of the top 10 fiction debuts of 2020; his second, The Sanctuary, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month; and his third, A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature. in 2011, Murray was a founding member of the West End comedy show Austentatious.

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