Hot Desk

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Rebecca Blume knows two things about Ben Heath: He’s a new editor at a rival publishing division, and he has terrible desk-sharing skills.

What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive Post-it notes escalates after the death of literary titan Edward David Adams, A.K.A. "the Lion," when Rebecca and Ben are thrown into a fierce competition to land his estate.

But when secrets about the Lion emerge, they are forced to ask--what role do they want to play in his legacy?

And most importantly, is their Post-it war actually . . . flirting?

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

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

About Laura Dickerman

Laura Dickerman has an MA in Fiction from NYU and an MA in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She has taught high-school English at the Hopkins School, the Collegiate School for Boys, and Germantown Friends. She was an intern at The Paris Review many, many years ago. At her lowest point, she spent a month temping for her younger brother Colin at Grove/Atlantic where he was critical of her photocopying skills. She’s been a bookclub leader, tutor, and recipient of an NEH grant. She has lived in Vermont, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Brussels, and currently in Atlanta with her husband. They have two grown daughters. Hot Desk is her first novel.

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Details

Imprint: Penguin
Published: 03/09/2026
ISBN: 9781405972536
Length: 368 pages
Price: £9.99

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Hot Desk

Format:

Pre-order:

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.

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.

Rollicking and hilarious

A fresh take on classic rom-coms, Laura Dickerman's clever comedy of manners captures the timeless romance of literary New York.

About Laura Dickerman

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