Q&A: Lacey N. Dunham, Author of ‘The Belles’
We chat with author Lacey N. Dunham about The Belles, which is a richly atmospheric, dark academia debut novel about a young woman with a secretive past will risk everything—including her life—to fit in.
Hi, Lacey! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a tea drinker, birder, hiker, former indie bookseller, and I love visiting historic cemeteries while on vacation. The only candy I eat is black licorice. I love a good ghost story.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I grew up on a farm and my dad, like most farmers, is a real yarn spinner. Because it was a rural area with few people, I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, playing in the ditches and fields or reading for whole afternoons. I wrote fan fiction based on all my favorite books before internet fan fiction culture (or the internet) existed. Eventually, I started telling my own stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Reading Rainbow’s The Tortoise and the Hare, as adapted by Janet Stevens. My kindergarten teacher gave it to me, and I still own it.
- The one that made you want to become an author: I can’t pinpoint a single book, but I was inspired as a kid by authors ranging from R.L. Stine and Lois Lowry to Lois Duncan and Anne Rice.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Toni Morrison’s Beloved
Your novel, The Belles, is out September 9th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Sinister southern gothic toxic femininity
Where did the inspiration for The Belles come from?
Like my protagonist, I was a first-generation college student at an historic women’s college in Virginia; my alma mater, like the fictional Bellerton College in the book, also has its own unsavory past. That’s the personal inspiration.
I also love gothic novels past and present and a good ghost story, as I mentioned. My personal experiences and my obsessions intermingle in The Belles.
This is your debut novel! What are some of the key lessons you have learned when it comes to writing and the publishing
Community is everything. Uplift other authors. Have a good therapist. Keep your writing brain and your publishing side brain separate as much as possible. One is creative, the other is business.
What’s next for you?
My second novel! It’s Grey Gardens meets Tim Burton with a sapphic love story, love-hate relationship between two sisters, and true crime obsessives at its core, plus a couple of hucksters and a séance performing medium. I’m working on a draft currently, and fingers crossed the writing goes well.
I’m also taking a much-needed vacation.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I read widely across genres. House of Beth by Kerry Cullen and Greenwich by Kate Broad are two outstanding novels from this year that I highly recommend. Two short story collections from this year that I’m enjoying (I tend to savor story collections) are Nicholas Claro’s heart-felt This Is Where You Are and Kerry Donoghue’s edgy, weird girl-centric Mouth.
I’m looking forward to Kristina Ten’s Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine and Courtney Floyd’s Higher Magic, both coming out in October. And I’m already eagerly anticipating three 2026 books: Yu-Mei Balasingamchow’s satirical caper Names Have Been Changed, Sonia Feldman’s sapphic coming-of-age Girl’s Girl, and Isabelle Engel’s fast-paced rom-com Most Eligible.
