What are the best novels about infidelity? With Sophie Mackintosh

Ask Penguin
May 6, 2026 41 min
What are the best novels about infidelity? With Sophie Mackintosh
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About this episode

<p>What’s&nbsp;the difference between flash fiction and&nbsp;the&nbsp;short&nbsp;story?&nbsp;Why&nbsp;are we drawn to&nbsp;literature’s most&nbsp;flawed&nbsp;characters?&nbsp;And what would&nbsp;be the ideal fictional&nbsp;world&nbsp;for adulterers?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>Hosted by Rhianna Dhillon, on this episode&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>Ask&nbsp;Penguin</em>,&nbsp;we’re&nbsp;answering your questions with&nbsp;our&nbsp;best&nbsp;book recommendations and talking to Booker Prize-longlisted&nbsp;novelist Sophie Mackintosh about her new novel&nbsp;<em>Permanence</em>. The book&nbsp;follows&nbsp;Clara and Francis&nbsp;– a couple in love,&nbsp;but&nbsp;in&nbsp;secret. When they&nbsp;wake in a strange city, they can finally be together. But as they&nbsp;move&nbsp;between this world and their ordinary&nbsp;lives,&nbsp;cracks begin to show,&nbsp;and&nbsp;they are forced to ask&nbsp;-&nbsp;how&nbsp;long can their&nbsp;love survive?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p>Discover all the books mentioned in this episode <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/the-best-novels-about-infidelity-ask-penguin-podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a></p><br><p>Sophie Mackintosh&nbsp;is the author of four novels, including&nbsp;<em>The Water Cure&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>Cursed Bread.&nbsp;</em>She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize, has won a Betty Trask Award, and has been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. She has been published in&nbsp;<em>Granta, The White Review&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>TANK&nbsp;</em>magazine<em>&nbsp;</em>among others.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><p>For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here <a href="https://goallin.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://goallin.org.uk</a>&nbsp;</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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