Lesley Kara
The Mid•Point with Gabby Logan
The Midpoint
4.3 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
Welcome to The Midpoint with Gabby Logan — the podcast where we pause at life’s crossroads and talk honestly about the shifts, challenges and opportunities that come with being in the middle of it all.
Today, Gabby is joined by bestselling psychological thriller writer Lesley Kara, whose gripping novels have captivated readers across the UK and beyond. After years working in education, Lesley took a leap of faith and turned to writing — and her debut novel The Rumour became an instant sensation, proving that it’s never too late to change direction and chase something new.
In this conversation, Lesley reflects on the courage it takes to reinvent yourself, the realities of launching a creative career later in life, and how self-doubt can coexist with ambition. She shares what she’s learned about resilience, success, and the surprising pressures that come after a breakthrough moment.
Expect a thoughtful and candid discussion about second acts, creative risk-taking, and what it really means to find your stride at midlife.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Midpoint. My guest today is a woman who found that her 50s truly were |
| 0:08.9 | the beginning of the time of her life, caring less about what other people think, getting her first |
| 0:14.2 | book deal for her book rumour, and as the title of her latest book might suggest, she's |
| 0:18.9 | enjoying being something of a troublemaker. |
| 0:25.7 | We also have something in common, which may well come up today. This week, we buried my dad, |
| 0:30.8 | and last week, Leslie Carra wrote a post about the recent death of her mum on Instagram. She talked about how women in their 50s and 60s are often rebuilding after loss. But this can happen, |
| 0:36.8 | of course, much younger and to men too. So I hope |
| 0:39.2 | we get a chance to talk about that. And a very pertinent line in her post, which was, it isn't only the |
| 0:44.4 | physical fact of aging that wears us down. It's everything that comes with this stage of life. |
| 0:49.3 | So there's that to talk about, but also something else she's passionate about, which is keeping |
| 0:53.3 | doing the things we want and carrying on fulfilling our ambitions, whatever decade we're in. Let's go check to |
| 0:59.7 | Leslie, thank you so much for coming on the midpoint. |
| 1:05.3 | Thank you for inviting me, Gabby. |
| 1:07.4 | First of all, can I say I'm so sorry for your loss. And you recently posted about your mum. |
| 1:13.6 | Thank you. Yes. Very recently. Yes. Yeah. We're both grieving, aren't we at the moment? |
| 1:18.6 | I speak to you in the week that we had my dad's funeral. So a lot of what you said actually really resonated. And I will do for a lot of our listeners because as you pointed out, |
| 1:32.7 | women in particular, I think, and it affects men as well, but women in their 40s, 50s, 60s are often dealing with loss and change at the same time. And it's a really powerful kind of |
| 1:41.0 | period of life in one sense, but also it can be a period of life that's filled with a lot |
| 1:47.3 | of grief. Absolutely. And the journey we've had with my mum, you know, it's been several years of |
| 1:52.1 | very ill health and my dad as well. My dad died in 2024. So yeah, it's taken a real emotional toll, |
| 1:59.8 | I think, on myself and my siblings. But yeah, it's a sad time, but it was the right time for mum. You know, she was very old. She had dementia. She was bedbound. Quality of life wasn't great. So really, it's a relief, but it's still very sad, and it's a lot to process. It churns up all sorts of memories and |
| 2:18.6 | emotions, as I'm sure you're well aware. And it's all about being human, isn't it? It's all the |
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