Lacey N. Dunham is the author of The Belles, named a Best Book of the Year by Library Journal and Crime Reads, and the forthcoming Fall of the House of Graystone. A Poets & Writers 2025 Writer to Watch, she has received fellowships from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Catapult. She lives in Washington, DC, with too many books, but only two cats. Find her at LaceyNDunham.com.
Browse Related Books
"Set at Bellerton College, an elite women’s school, this audiobook in the dark academia genre begins in 1951, when Deena, a freshman, arrives on the school’s Virginia campus. Narrator Adenrele Ojo describes Deena’s desperate need to hide her underprivileged past and become accepted by the wealthy popular girls. Deena’s secrets unravel as she’s drawn into the sinister obsessions of the Belles, the most exclusive group on campus, and learns there’s a price for conformity. Ojo meticulously delivers the novel’s stunning prose and satisfying turns of phrase, but her timbre and intonation sound too mature for a story about college girls. Fifty years later, when the graduates gather for a reunion, Ojo’s voice is fully believable. "
– AudioFile Magazine
“A delightfully dark, Southern Gothic suspense. The Belles, as they call themselves, are the envy of their classmates, but with disappearances and accidents around every corner, what price will they pay to belong? With haunting prose, The Belles drew me in and kept me up late at night.” – Lauren Ling Brown, National Bestselling author of Society of Lies
"Lacey N. Dunham's The Belles is hauntingly seductive - Gothic Suspense at the top of its game! Both atmospheric and compelling, The Belles beckons you in from the first page, takes hold, and doesn't let go until the very last word. Completely engrossing! A beautifully written, tautly-plotted debut sure to captivate readers and leave them breathless." – Sophie Stava, author of Count My Lies
“Vicious and delicious, The Belles is one smart gobble of a novel. Dunham deftly explores the darkest perils of girlhood and the terrible lengths we go to in our desire to belong.” – Joanna Pearson, author of Bright and Tender Dark
"Seductively immersive and brilliantly gothic, The Belles beautifully mines the depths and complexities, the dangers and cruelties, of young womanhood within the confined and explosive space of a 1950's southern all-girls' school. Lacey N. Dunham is a writer not only of compelling story but of rich and unforgettable characters, a creeping, immersive setting, and continually stunning sentences." –Lynn Steger Strong, author of Flight and The Float Test
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
.
Watch your inbox for the Children Bookseller Newsletter
If you would like to receive the Children Bookseller email, please check below. Or visit our preference center to select the newsletter(s) you prefer.
