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The title of Hot Desk is enough to send chills up the spine of any millennial who’s worked a corporate office job. Laura Dickerman knew exactly what she was doing with the conceit of this new novel, which I read through the Libro.fm ALC program.
Rebecca Blume and Ben Heath work for rival publishing imprints that share office space. With a post-pandemic return-to-work policy in place, they both return to their New York headquarters for a couple of days a week, sharing a desk with the new money-saving “agile seating” system. Even though they’re never in the office at the same time, they find themselves mired in an argument taking place via Post-Its left in their shared space.
This is how Hot Desk is billed, as a workplace rivals rom-com, for fans of You’ve Got Mail. The thing is, as I read it, the “romance” is kind of secondary. Hot Desk is actually a mystery, and a #MeToo novel.
Rebecca and Ben are both vying for the publishing estate of recently-deceased literary titan Edward “the Lion” David Adams. He’s a Philip Roth-type character, widely respected for his authorial prowess despite his ingrained misogyny. As Rebecca and Ben do battle to win the rights to post-humously publish his final work, the reader gets glimpses of Jane’s story, Rebecca’s mother, and her connection to the deceased author.
It makes for a surprisingly intriguing mystery – what happened between Jane and the Lion? why does the Lion’s widow want her to read the novel before it’s released? should a dead man get the final word on what happened decades ago? – and even with a few clunky moments, it’s a highly readable story.
Oh, and Ben has a dog, Butch. Of course, he was my favourite character, and I’ll happily spoil his ending for you – he gets his happily ever after, living his best life eating biscotti.
Read Hot Desk on audiobook via Libro.fm here. (affiliate link)
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