Description

Two rival editors, one shared desk – You’ve Got Mail meets The Hating Game in the smart new romantic comedy set in the world of publishing, perfect for fans of Nora Ephron and Katherine Heiny.

‘Hilarious, heartbreaking, satirical, cutting and FUN’
Laura Jane Williams

‘For anyone who loves Curtis Sittenfeld, Nora Ephron, Alison Espach’
Joanna Rackoff

‘Super smart and assured . . . Fans of Tom Lake and The Flatshare will love it’
Sarra Manning

‘Rollicking and entertaining’
People Magazine

‘Captures all the thrills and aches of setting out in the world’
Morgan Dick

1982
When wide-eyed Jane Kinloch arrives at the East River Review in New York, she strikes up a friendship with her fellow intern, the glamorous Rose. But Rose’s attraction to their married boss, literary titan Edward David Adams, threatens to drive a wedge between them.

2022

When hot-desking is introduced at her office, Rebecca Blume of Avenue Publishing is furious about having to share her workspace with Ben Heath – an editor at rival imprint Hawk Mills.

What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive Post-It notes escalates after the death of renowned writer Edward David Adams. He has left behind an unfinished novel – and Ben and Rebecca are in competition to publish it.

That is until Rebecca discovers that the manuscript contains a decades-old secret about her mother, Jane.

Rebecca is determined to stop it from seeing the light of day. But can she persuade Ben to let it go?

Publisher Review

So charming and so accomplished, Hot Desk is by turns hilarious, heart-breaking, satirical, cutting and FUN. I absolutely loved it, and got way more than I bargained for in this dual-timeline tale of love and lust in publishing. * Laura Jane Williams, bestselling author of OUR STOP * I absolutely adored this super smart and assured debut novel set in the New York publishing world of now and the 1980’s. It’s a romcom but also an exploration of how powerful men treat the powerless young women in their orbit. Fans of My Salinger Year, Tom Lake AND The Flatshare will love Hot Desk. * Sarra Manning * Rollicking and hilarious * People Magazine * Hot Desk is pure, grade-A, reader’s delight. Dickerman’s satire of the publishing industry across decades is pitch-perfect, revealing all of its blindspots and absurdities. But beneath all the laughs (and there’s a lot of them) are serious and important questions about legacy, friendship, and who gets the right to tell a story. It’s the sexiest, funniest book party you’ll be invited to this year, and I promise you don’t want to miss it. * Grant Ginder, author of THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING * The funniest novel I’ve read in ages! But also the most romantic! Hot Desk had me, by turns, laughing and swooning. This is a comedy of manners for anyone who loves Curtis Sittenfeld, Nora Ephron, Alison Espach or, well, anyone. So spot-on in its depiction of literary world mores, I nearly sprained my neck nodding in recognition. I challenge any reader not to fall in love with this charming debut. * Joanna Rackoff, author of MY SALINGER YEAR * A fresh take on classic rom-coms, Laura Dickerman’s clever comedy of manners captures the timeless romance of literary New York. * Jillian Medoff, bestselling author of WHEN WE WERE BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL * A funny, deeply wise novel that captures all the thrills and aches of setting out in the world. Toggling seamlessly between 1981 and 2022 in New York City, Dickerman shows us that while Gen X and Gen Z may be very different, some things – friendship, ambition, the restorative magic of hangover takeout – are eternal. * Morgan Dick, author of THE FAVOURITE DAUGHTER *