Paula Hawkins on midlife success and the importance of financial independence

Paula Hawkins on midlife success and the importance of financial independence

My guest today is a woman who I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of, but you may not think you have. Her name is Paula Hawkins, but you probably know her as the author of the global bestseller The Girl On The Train. A book she wrote in her early 40s after - I’m sure she won’t mind me saying - an awful lot of also-rans. The girl on the train went on to sell 23 million copies, be published in 50 countries and is one of the top 5 selling hardbacks since records began. It was also turned into a film starring Emily Blunt. But does that level of success - and let’s face it, cash - bring with it massively liberating freedom… or the fear of never being able to live up to your own legend? Paula talks about the shock and salvation of sudden mid-life success when you’re totally broke, the importance of being able to “leave if you need to”, the likability curse that plagues women, why she always knew she didn’t want children and her hopes for her third novel, the taut, tense A Slow Fire Burning, which has some of the best older female characters I’ve read in a long time. You can buy all the books mentioned in this podcast at Bookshop.org, including A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins and the book that accompanies this podcast, The Shift: how I lost and found myself after 40 - and you can too by me! The Shift (on life after 40) with Sam Baker is created and hosted by Sam Baker and edited by Emily Sandford. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate/review/follow as it really does help other people find us. And let me know what you think on twitter @sambaker or instagram @theothersambaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(287)

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Elif Shafak on the power of older women & why menopause can be the end of shame - THE SHIFT REVISITED

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Christie Watson on menopause, mischief and midlife - THE SHIFT REVISITED

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This episode of The Shift first aired in June 2022. I’ve lost count of the number of women I’ve spoken to who were taken totally by surprise by perimenopause but, to date, none of them actually had...

24 Mar 50min

Martha Wainwright on music, motherhood & finding love in midlife - FROM THE ARCHIVES

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17 Mar 51min

Prue Leith: 'I've had HRT patches on my bum for more than 40 years!'

Prue Leith: 'I've had HRT patches on my bum for more than 40 years!'

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Poorna Bell is rewriting the rules around ageing

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3 Mar 1h 3min

Elizabeth Gilbert: "It's quite radical, what happens to us as we get older"

Elizabeth Gilbert: "It's quite radical, what happens to us as we get older"

My guest today doesn’t really need an introduction. Elizabeth Gilbert is many things - an internationally bestselling author of the global phenomenon, Eat Pray Love, a Time 100 most influential person...

24 Feb 1h 13min

Fatima Bhutto: surviving a coercive relationship & letting go of shame

Fatima Bhutto: surviving a coercive relationship & letting go of shame

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17 Feb 57min

Catherine Newman on surviving the midlife sandwich – THE SHIFT LIVE

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This is a special live episode of The Shift with Sam Baker podcast, recorded live at the wonderful Portobello Bookshop in Edinburgh.  Catherine Newman is the author of some of the most on-the-nose ...

10 Feb 58min

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