My guest this week is award-winning author and screenwriter Stef Penney, whose novel "The Tenderness of Wolves" won Costa Book of the Year, Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year, and has been translated into 30 languages. Her latest novel, "The Beasts of Paris,” takes us to Paris in 1870 at the onset of the Franco-Prussian War and its subsequent revolution. We visit Paris, not through the eyes of political or military strategists, but through some of her more marginalized characters: gay men, people of color, neuro-divergents, women, and those questioning their gender identity. As we drift between the zoo animals of the Jardin des Plantes to the women’s asylum to the homes of the bourgeoisie and makeshift hospitals, we discover who the true beasts are.

In our conversation, Stef shares who inspired her main characters and why they were so important to her, what it meant to her to focus on those often overlooked in wartime retellings, love stories and more. Then, she treats us to a reading from her book.


stefpenney.com


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Credits

• Host and Producer: Jennifer Geraghty. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @jennyphoria; Website: http://jennyphoria.com

Music Credits
Hip Hop Rap Instrumental (Crying Over You) by christophermorrow https://soundcloud.com/chris-morrow-3​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2AHA5G9​ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/hiYs5z4xdBU​

About Us
Since well before Victor Hugo looked up at Notre Dame and thought, "Huh... what if a hunchback lived in there?" authors have been inspired by Paris. The Storytime in Paris podcast will help keep this tradition alive with short interviews and readings from your favorite contemporary authors with a French connection.

Every episode will feature five questions, asked by you, our authors' biggest fans, and answered live on air. Then, our authors will treat us to a reading of an excerpt from their book. Who knows? Maybe you'll even be inspired to write your own Great French Novel. Happy listening!