Philippa sits down with the brilliant Adele Parks — bestselling author of 25 novels, over six million copies sold, OBE for services to literature — to talk about her latest book Eyes on You, the pressure of reader expectations, and a biscuit revelation that may change your tea break forever.

🎙️ Adele Parks on Eyes on You

When Amy was 15, she watched her father brutally murder his secret lover. Her testimony sent him to prison. Now in her early 30s, she's living a small, quiet life — until a privileged, wealthy man walks into the noodle bar where she works, and everything changes. What feels like connection may hide something far darker.

Adele & Philippa discuss:

• Why Adele thinks this might be her best book yet — and why that's not just author hype
• The working title that was ditched: The Murderer's Daughter — too on the nose, too reductive
• Daddy issues, trauma, and why Amy's story is really about what happens when the person who was supposed to protect you destroys everything instead
• The pressure of being an "auto-buy author" — and why that status has to be earned every single time
• Whether podcasters and book reviewers have made readers more demanding of twists and reveals (Adele thinks probably yes, and is fine with it)
• Why she writes at home, needs air conditioning installed, and requires a scary social media bouncer to confiscate her phone
• Her nightmare writing location: a writer's retreat, surrounded by other writers all typing away confidently while she types "the" again and again
• The importance of pre-orders — how they affect stock decisions, first print runs, and author sanity on launch day

Her signed pre-order service through Bert's Books in Swindon

• 📚 Order a signed copy of Eyes on You from Bert's Books
• 🔗 Pre-order Eyes on You and find Adele's tour dates at adeleparks.com
• What she hopes readers feel at the end: shock, awe, possibly tears, and the satisfying sense that everyone got what they deserved

What Adele's reading:

• Mad Mabel – Sally Hepworth (an 80-year-old with a very murky past and a suspicious neighbour)
• The Last Tudor – Philippa Gregory (big, fat, brilliant, and finished in two days)

Biscuit answer: Cherry GoAhead biscuits, dunked in tea, timed to perfection. Three per pack — the ideal number. Not to be eaten dry under any circumstances.

Eyes on You is out 27th August. Pre-orders open now.

YOU CAN:

🔗 Pre-order Eyes on You and find Adele's tour dates at adeleparks.com

📚 Order a signed copy of Eyes on You from Bert's Books

💬 Get in touch with the podcast

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Quick Book Reviews: author interviews and book reviews with no spoilers.

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