Fleet bags 'fascinating' Ditum analysis of the Upskirt Decade

Fleet has bagged a “fascinating” feminist analysis of noughties culture by journalist Sarah Ditum.

In her first acquisition for Fleet, Zoë Hood, director of literary publicity, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Caroline Hardman at Hardman & Swainson. Upskirt Decade: Women, Fame and The Noughties will be published in spring 2023.

The synopsis explains: “Told through the careers and life stories of some of the most high-profile women of the decade – including Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston and Janet Jackson – Upskirt Decade will explore how the media, empowered through the tools of the early internet age, created a new and brutal environment in which the rules of engagement between celebrities, the press and the public were changed and a new kind of star developed: ‘The hot mess’. She was attractive, famous and chaotic, known best for her wardrobe malfunctions, DUI convictions, public meltdowns, botched plastic surgery, broken marriages or sexual disasters. In this lively reappraisal of the pre-MeToo era, Ditum will show how the ‘Upskirt Decade’ effect filtered through society so that celebrity culture and the lives of ordinary women became intertwined.”

Hood said: “I’ve always loved Sarah’s articles and essays and her clear eye on celebrity culture. I devoured this proposal in the way I used to devour a Heat magazine feature, except that Upskirt Decade made me feel hopeful rather than bleak. There’s a massive need for a reappraisal of the noughties. Documentaries such as 'Framing Britney Spears' show us that the reckoning has begun. Upskirt Decade is going to be a wild ride back to the early years of the century we live in today.”

Ditum added: “I’ve been following the careers and lives of the women in Upskirt Decade since my teens, and I’m beyond excited to share my decades of immersion in celebrity culture at a time when the world is ready for a reassessment. I can’t think of anyone better than Zoë to work with on this, or better than Fleet to publish it: both their names appear on a ridiculous number of my favourite books, and I know they’ll help me to do justice to the women whose stories are the heart of Upskirt Decade.”