ABOUT US
Division Dialogue, spearheaded by Sharmaine Lovegrove, is home to a variety of phenomenal stories from illuminating voices often excluded from the mainstream.
Established first as an English language bookshop in Berlin in 2009, Dialogue Books was reignited as part of the Little, Brown Book Group in July 2017. In 2023, Dialogue Books was reincarnated once again as its own division within the wider Hachette UK Group.
Innovation, Inspiration and Inclusion are the focus of our venture, with dynamic originality across all areas of our publishing, from receiving manuscripts to connecting with consumers; at Dialogue, we are committed to revealing new worlds through our narratives as we open up publishing to all across society. We continue to build its foundations upon the idea that through storytelling, a dialogue is created to engender a more inclusive, nuanced conversation about experiences in our world that come before, after and next.
We shine a spotlight on stories by, about and for readers from LGBTQI+, disabled, working-class, Black, Asian and marginalised communities. We have a clear focus on distinctive, cross-genre titles that spark a conversation across fiction and non-fiction on our commercial imprint, Renegade Books, and our literary list, Dialogue Books.
At Dialogue, we publish across the spectrum, from international bestsellers and book club favourites to future classics, with an abundance of prize nominations to our name and adaptations of some of our most successful books in production for TV and film.
We are committed to reaching a broader and richer readership, and our range of conversation-sparking, ground-breaking and game-changing work is published with every reader in mind.
Dialogue Books: Sparking the Conversation
Dialogue Books is our literary imprint, where we publish across fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Grounded in our activist principles of Inclusion, Innovation and Inspiration, we are home to exceptional writing by authors who boldly illuminate the world around us. This premise unites
Dialogue authors from Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah to Brit Bennet, Clint Smith to Lisa Ko and Liv Little to Paterson Joseph.
Renegade Books: Books That Break Rules
Renegade Books is Dialogue’s commercial imprint, where we publish the very best fiction and non-fiction for massmarket audiences. We are dedicated to radical inclusion, pairing commercial prowess with our activist core. What we do is inherently political – we believe that books can change the world, and our tagline is ‘books that break rules’, which sums up our rebellious spirit. We’re an imprint with a difference: publishing stories for everyone and publishing them boldly. Our promise is to break the mould, reach readers that mainstream publishing has neglected and forge new routes to market, with a laser focus on high-potential commercial hits.
MEET THE EDITORS
Sharmaine Lovegrove Managing Director
Sharmaine.Lovegrove@dialoguebooks.co.uk
Hannah Chukwu
Literary Editorial Director, Dialogue Books
Hannah.Chukwu@dialoguebooks.co.uk
Christina Demosthenous Publisher, Renegade Books
Christina.Demosthenous@dialoguebooks.co.uk
Joelle Owusu-Sekyere
Non-Fiction Editorial Director, Renegade Books
Joelle.Owusu@dialoguebooks.co.uk
Alexa Allen-Batifoulier Editor, Renegade Books
Alexa.AllenBatifoulier@dialoguebooks.co.uk
Hot Springs Drive Lindsay Hunter
11/01/24
ISBN: 9780349130743
An unputdownable, dark and pulse-pounding pageturner that peels back the fragile veneer of two suburban families – next-door neighbours and best friends – and the secrets between them.
Today, she walks in on her husband and best friend having an affair. Tomorrow, her body is found.
Seven years ago, Theresa and Jackie meet in a maternity ward. Sleep-deprived new mothers; instant friends.
Then they become neighbours on Hot Springs Drive - a nice street in a nice neighbourhood, filled with flower boxes and emerald lawns.
The story ends like this: in the depths of a sweltering heatwave, Theresa discovers that her husband and Jackie are having an affair. The next day, Theresa’s body is found.
The truth lies somewhere between the picket fences and pink blossoms, where friendships twist into tragic jealousies and barbecues hide bed hopping and bloodshed. By summer’s end, the residents of Hot Springs Drive will never be the same...
Top Doll Karen McCarthy Woolf
18/01/2024
ISBN: 9780349703459
The lyrical, hilarious and totally original debut novel by award-winning poet and campaigner, Karen McCarthy Woolf.
When reclusive and eccentric American billionaire heiress Huguette Clark dies in a hospital room at age 106, she leaves behind three New York apartments, an unlived-in-but-meticulously-upkept mansion, a Monet and an extensive and varied doll collection. Distrustful and having not been outside for over 50 years, Clark spoke to few, bar her accountant,
her lawyer and her dolls – and through this highly unreliable, semi-fictional miniature epic, the dolls speak back. As Clark’s chorus of dolls weave together the years of her life and her family history in deadly serious yet playful verse, McCarthy Woolf deftly explores the undercurrents of family power dynamics and the politics of race, wealth and desire.
This Love
Lotte Jeffs
01/02/24
ISBN: 9780349703152
A gorgeous, sweeping novel about queerness, joy, and choosing your own family.
Mae and Ari are not your average power couple. Their love story started when they met at Leeds University. Back when Mae, whilst never short of a date and confident about who she is at her core, needed Ari’s bright light to help her grow into herself.
Ari, having run from New York following an undisclosed scandal and battling his own demons, held onto Mae as his grounding anchor.
Though they quickly become inseparable, their inimitable bond must survive guilt, secrets, growing up and ultimately love in all its complex and fluid forms.
Spanning ten years of an extraordinary friendship, This Love is an epic tale of finding your soulmate and creating a family out of expansive, boundary-breaking love.
Filthy Rich Vampires: Second Rite
Geneva Lee
22/02/2024
ISBN: 9780349130910
Return to the seductive world of Filthy Rich Vampires with Second Rite, the thrilling, sensual
continuation of Julian and Thea’s story.
Thea Melbourne has a broken heart. A month after her world turned upside down, she’s struggling to return to the life she left behind. Her mother is in a coma, she’s selling off designer gowns to pay the bills, and her roommates seem to think she’s made of glass. But when the vampire who broke her heart shows up at the hospital, she learns a devastating secret.
To save the love of his life, Julian pushed her away. Now he has to live with the pain and
regret or find someone to put him out of his misery. When it becomes clear that Thea is still in danger, he has a choice to make. He can stay away like the Council demands or risk everything, including their lives, to win her back.
Convincing her means facing his own dark secrets and resisting the temptation to claim her as his mate once and for all. But Thea isn’t going to make that easy for him.
WINTER ANIMALS
ASHANI LEWIS
Winter Animals
Ashani Lewis
15/02/24
ISBN: 9780349703299
A seductive, sapphic debut about the power of youthful idealism from an exciting young award-winning writer.
In one of America’s Happiest Cities, Elen is trapped under the shadow of the snow-capped Cascade Mountains. Her husband has left her. Her belongings are in the boot of her car. Her days are filled mostly with silence and drinking. When she meets four English teenagers in a decaying bar, she is enamoured. The teenagers are wealthy squatters, drifting between ski resorts and breaking into empty AirBnBs. Simmering beneath the well-oiled machine of the group’s socialist bliss, as they welcome her into the fold she senses a violent secret that fuels the four’s never-ending disappearing act.
Vibrant and cultish, they force Elen to ruminate on the irresistible pull of bright young things. She cannot understand what they want from her – but why would Elen leave when she has nowhere else to go?
A dark meditation on the dangers and seductive power of youthful idealism, and the slippages between friendship and love, Winter Animals is an extraordinary debut examining freedom, friendship, desire, and excess.
SUPER LEAD
Doing It All
Ruby Russell
29/02/2024
ISBN: 9780349702186
Doing It All is a call for single mothers to take pride in their identity, and for society to recognise their value and respect the decisions single mothers make over how to raise our children.
Doing It All explores what it means to be a single mother. Scorned as victims, outcasts and sinners, the very existence of lone mothers has long been a ‘problem’ that skewers the heart of prevailing systems of morality, oppression and power.
There has been a wave of wonderfully radical examinations of motherhood in recent years. But no one has deeply examined the specific questions and communal histories of single motherhood. This book combines personal essay with interviews and historical research to reveal the shrouded history and present-day
struggles of women who raise their children outside marriage, on the fringes of society, and in communities that challenge the very definition of family. It looks to traditions of female solidarity around the world, and to the few explicitly political movements of single mothers in Western history.
Unpacking the hardships single mothers face today, Russell argues that the transformation that society must undergo to accommodate our ways of life is essential to make homes and workplaces fit for all women, and to create a more just and sustainable society.
Home
Charlene White
07/03/24
ISBN: 9780349703640
A rich tapestry of stories on family, food and finding your place.
In her powerful and eclectic debut, broadcaster Charlene White explores what ‘home’ means to people from various walks of life. From emigrating from one home to a new home or fleeing persecution to growing up in foster care, being told to ‘go back home’ or having no home at all.
Charlene’s own stories are beautifully woven into a fine collection of recipes, memories and interviews from a wide range of collaborators. Home is a bold exploration of family, food and finding your place beyond four walls.
A History of the World in Six Plagues
Edna Bonhomme21/03/2024
ISBN: 9780349704364
An original, revolutionary new social and scientific history, examining the role that confinement has played in fostering and hindering epidemics.
A History of the World in Six Plagues is a timely examination of the role that confinement has played in fostering and hindering epidemics.
In a rare blend of rigorous research and truly compelling story-telling, Dr Edna Bonhomme traces the long history of viral outbreaks under conditions of social confinement-the plantation system, colonial
camps, imprisonment, quarantine, factoriesand reveals how these enclosed spaces fuel epidemics.
This is a book about the complicated histories of movement and stagnation, and about the time we live in, with a focus on the racialised history of several key epidemics from the impact of cholera on the plantation economy to HIV/AIDS outbreaks in US prisons.
Memory Piece
Lisa Ko
21/03/24
ISBN: 9780349704319
The award-winning author of The Leavers offers a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life?
In the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong, and Ellen Ng are three teenagers drawn together by their shared sense of alienation and desire for something different. “Allied in the weirdest parts of themselves,” they envision each other as artistic collaborators and embark on a future defined by freedom and creativity.
By the time they are adults, their dreams are murkier. As a performance artist, Giselle must navigate an elite social world she never conceived of. As a coder thrilled by the internet’s early egalitarian promise, Jackie must contend with its more sinister
shift toward monetization and surveillance. And as a community activist, Ellen confronts the increasing gentrification and policing overwhelming her New York City neighbourhood. Over time their friendship matures and changes, their definitions of success become complicated, and their sense of what matters evolves.
Moving from the pre-digital 1980s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build lives in a world radically different from the one they were promised.
The Potting Shed Murder
Paula Sutton
04/04/24
ISBN: 9780349703763
The debut cosy crime novel by cottage-core queen and socialmedia sensation Paula Sutton, the creator of Hill House Vintage.
Welcome to the beautiful, bucolic village of Pudding Corner, where there’s death amongst the dahlias...
Newly arrived in the quaint village of Norfolk’s Pudding Corner, Daphne Brewster is glad to be leaving London behind. As time goes by, and she finds herself in great demand as the village’s unofficial Vintage Lady, she begins to acclimatise to this new, more sedate way of life.
But when the school’s headmaster is discovered dead, face down in his allotment patch, everything changes. His wife refuses to accept a verdict of natural causes, and the
village is suddenly ablaze with scandal. When the headmaster’s influential widow points her finger at Minnerva, Daphne’s new friend, the fingers of the village begin to point with her. As the unjust politics and machinations of power in a sleepy rural village slowly become apparent to her, Daphne decides to clear her friend’s name, and begins to investigate...
A deliciously addictive and quirky whodunnit, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie’s classic murder mysteries, and page-turners by Janice Hallett and Richard Osman.
SUPER LEAD
The Good Ones are Taken Taj McCoy
04/04/2024
ISBN: 9781408748374
When Maggie’s college best friend admits he’s in love with her, she’ll have to decide whether it’s worth giving up something good, for something that could be amazing in this laugh out loud friends to lovers romcom.
Maggie is a lawyer looking for love. Garrett is a sports writer waiting for his college best friend to notice him, but she’s written him off because of a pact they made as teenagers. When Maggie starts online dating to find a date for two weddings, Garrett throws salt in everyone’s game. At every turn, he points out the red flags and encourages Maggie to keep looking until she believes she’s found the one. Things come to a head when Maggie demands that Garrett be happy for her, because he
Defiance:
can’t. Not when he’s not with her – all of his attempts at a relationship crash and burn because he doesn’t feel for them what he does for Maggie. When he blurts out his feelings, Maggie’s world is turned upside down. She never knew he held onto feelings from their “almost hookup” more than fifteen years ago. Now she must choose between the perfect guy and a friendship that is the foundation for everything she’s ever wanted.
The Fight for Justice for Christopher Alder Janet Alder with Dan Glazebrook
25/04/24
ISBN: 9780349704319
From the sister of Christopher Alder, a damning account of injustice in the UK police system.
The police killing of Christopher Alder was one of the most notorious deaths in custody in the UK, involving the destruction of evidence, a whitewash of an investigation and illegal surveillance. Christopher’s sister Janet has been relentlessly fighting for justice for
decades, and fearlessly holds the UK’s state institutions to account in this extraordinary book. This book will be both a probing expose of what went on, based on exhaustive documentary evidence, as well as the personal story of Janet’s fight to uncover the truth.
Loving with Demons
Hana Mahmood
02/05/24
ISBN: 9780349130514
The dark, unmissable and next-level gripping debut from TikTok sensation Hana Mahmood –about the seductive, yet ultimately deadly, line between love and hatred.
A mesmerizing, dark, and hugely evocative piece of auto-fiction, and a first-hand account of a young woman falling madly in love with a narcissist - her undoing, her fight for freedom, and her bravery as she pieces herself back together.
When Livia met up-and-coming rapper, Nero, their relationship quickly developed from a friendship into the most intense and all-consuming kind of love. As his rap career rocketed, Liv was at the centre of his world, experiencing the highs and lows of life at the top of the music industry – and at the hands
Curandera
Irenosen Okojie
30/05/24
of a narcissist.
The man she loved with every fibre of her being, the soul who set her alight, was also a monster. As his fame grew, so did his god complex. As his reputation grew, so did his deadly temper. What was once a fairytale kind of love became a nightmare.
An unputdownable, addictive and hugely emotional page-turner that fans of Colleen Hoover and Ana Huang will be obsessed with.
ISBN: 9780349700946
From the award-winning author of Butterfly Fish and Speak Gigantular comes this thrilling, experimental new novel.
Curandera explores the darker elements of shamanism, desire and friendship.
In the mountainous town of Gethsemane, 17th century Cape Verde, a mysterious woman’s arrival sparks a series of strange events that will leave the town’s inhabitants changedmen sporadically blind in the afternoons, children disappearing and reappearing without warning and infertile women pregnant with the memories of past births.
In present day London, a quartet are brought
together by their fascination with ritual, miracles, and a life beyond the mundane present day. Botanist Therese lives with Azacca, a Haitian musician who leaves offerings, Peruvian drifter Emilien who is haunted by the past and adventurous Finn, who is increasingly drawn to living life on the edge.
With the past and present beginning to blur into one, Curandera is a story of rebirth and redemption, a mythic tale of recalibrations across time.
Shanghailanders
Juli Min
09/05/2024
ISBN: 9780349704074
The stylish, kaleidoscopic debut novel about sisterhood, love and Shanghai, from the Editor-in-Chief of The Shanghai Literary Review.
‘The future contained in the past, the past contained in the future . . .’
Shanghai, 2040
On a high-speed train gliding into the city, Leo Yang has just dropped off his wife, Eko, and their two older daughters, Yumi and Yoko, at the airport for university, whilst their youngest, Kiko, waits at home. He feels old. Reflective. Untethered.
As the city blurs together unrecognizably through the window, he asks himself: How did we get here?
Moving backwards in time to 2014, the story of the Yang family and those in their orbit unfurls against the background of an everevolving Shanghai. From the roads taken by a driver swerving past self-driving cars of the future, to the intimate apartments where the family make bids to connect - the speed, technology and history of this old, futuristic city shine through the novel to form the foundations of this exceptional debut.
In this mesmerising and deeply original novel from an unmissable new voice, Min shows us how secrets can both separate and unite a family, breaking as it forms.
SUPER LEAD
The Lives of Women Without Children
Nicole Louie
13/06/2024
ISBN: 9781408748336
A deeply personal exploration of childless and child-free women – in their own words.
The Lives of Women Without Children is the story of 14 women around the world, from different walks of live who don’t have children. It’s also the story of why Nicole had to find these women and what they taught her. Part memoir, part exploration of childlessness through candid conversations,
this project is an attempt to showcase the many ways in which people find fulfilment outside of parenthood. And because the social expectation to procreate weighs the most on women, it focuses solely on them, their experiences, and how their womanhood can manifest and bloom outside of motherhood.
The Memo Lauren Mechling and Rachel Dodes
20/06/24
ISBN: 9780349703824
Have you got the memo? A one-of-a-kind, feminist high-concept novel that imagines a world where women are given secret memos; blueprints for success to help them live their best lives.
35-year-old Jenny Green is dreading her upcoming university reunion. While her friends are killing it professionally and personally, Jenny is stuck in a dead-end job and a dead-end relationship. She feels like she didn’t get the memo... and she didn’t. Literally.
Whilst getting ready for the humiliating trip to face her university peers, Jenny receives a text from an unlisted number: Jenny Green: please collect your memo. Hidden among her old campus, there’s a female-led organisation providing secret memos to students. While men have the patriarchy to help them live their
best lives, the memos serve as a blueprint for success for women.
Gifted with a second shot at life, Jenny travels back through time to fix her worst mistakes, but at what cost? Ultimately, she must decide whether the pursuit of perfection is worth the personal sacrifice - before it’s too late.
A hilarious and beyond-relatable pageturner about the friendships, loves and small moments of joy that don’t make headlines in a world where competition is everything. Perfect for fans of Maria Semple, Dolly Alderton and Monica Heisey.
COVER TO COME
Filthy Rich Vampires: Three Queens
Geneva Lee
20/06/2024
ISBN: 9780349130934
Experience the decadent, magical world of Three Queens, the third book in the Filthy Rich Vampire series from New York Times bestselling author Geneva Lee.
Thea and Julian have made their choice, but can they survive the fallout?
Returning to the world of the vampire elite as Solstice falls, they must navigate new dangers, treacherous allies, and morally grey friendships. When information leads them to Venice, the couple finds themselves at odds. Following the clue isn’t just dangerous, it could be deadly. With the fate of her family on the line, Thea rushes to Venice, and Julian follows despite his haunted history with the city.
The past might hold the key to their future, but to find out, Julian must face the monster he was once, and as forgotten magic stirs in Thea’s blood, the search for answers leads to devastating consequences.
With the future of the magical world hanging in the balance, tensions rising in their family, and war looming on the horizon, will their love triumph, or will they pay the ultimate price?
Coming Soon
Swift River
Essie J Chambers
04/07/2024
ISBN: 9780349703862
“Truly amazing. Such an incredible blend of intimate and epic, so smart and funny and honest and generous-spirited. I like plenty of books but I love a novel this much maybe just once or twice a year.” CURTIS SITTENFELD, internationally bestselling author
Diamond is from a small town, where everyone knows everyone but after the disappearance of her father, she has no one left in Swift River that looks like her. Diamond’s long lost aunt contacts her with letters telling her about her Newberry family who she has never met and
Costanza
over time she is able to piece together who she is and who she could have been.
For fans of The Vanishing Half and Where the Crawdads Sing comes a unique literary cross over voice that explores family, identity, home and belonging.
Rachel Blackmore
01/08/24
ISBN: 9780349131092
History calls her a temptress. Muse. Fallen woman. This is her story. A dazzling historical tale of desire and betrayal – perfect for fans of The Marriage Portrait and The Miniaturist.
Rome 1636: Costanza Piccolomini is trying to be a good wife and a respectable young woman, while secretly wishing there was more to life. When she meets Lorenzo Bernini, the famed sculptor reigning over Roman society, the two feel a passionate, dangerous mutual attraction... Not only is infidelity illegal, but the hot-tempered Bernini has darker desires:
he wants to possess Costanza, body and soul. In capturing Costanza through sculpture, Bernini exposes her to Italian society as his lover. It marks the beginning of the end for their affair; and Costanza’s freedom.
Can she reclaim herself after losing everything she loves?
