Angela Chadwick's 'dazzlingly original' high-concept second novel goes to Renegade

Christina Demosthenous, publisher of Renegade Books, has bought The Impersonators, a high-concept page-turner by Angela Chadwick.  

World all-language rights and audio were acquired from Cara Lee Simpson at PFD Literary Agents. Renegade, an imprint of Dialogue Books, has scheduled for hardback publication in March 2025.  

The Impersonators tells the story of best friends and struggling actors, Lucy White and Jack Cavendish, who set up an Impersonation Agency. For Lucy, a working-class woman in her 30s who has just been dropped by her agent, it’s a way to keep her lifelong dream of making it as an actor alive – and to stop her returning to the life she’s spent a decade trying to outrun.  

As they set up an agency supplying actors to step into people’s lives to maintain pretences and mistruths, Lucy almost feels like she’s on the right track. But when a well-heeled older woman, Zelda, hires Lucy and Jack to deceive her former partner, things begin to spiral rapidly out of their control.  

Chadwick is a Hampshire-based novelist whose debut novel XX won the 2019 Polari First Book Prize. 

Demosthenous said: “I couldn’t dream up a more imaginative, mic-drop one-line pitch than The Impersonators – I was sold on just the title alone. In this unputdownable story, Angela pairs a dazzlingly original hook and the twistiest of plots with a thought-provoking exploration of class and wealth – what opportunities wealth gifts, what barriers class presents, and how far we’re willing to go transcend them. This is top-tier storytelling with a beating activist heart, and I couldn’t love it more.” 

Chadwick said: “The first flash of inspiration for this novel came as I read an article about actors’ agencies in Japan, and how it’s commonplace for them to work with ’ordinary people’ in support of a pretence. At the time I was working at an arts university and it was easy to imagine some of our enterprising graduates starting such a venture to help cover their living costs. Lucy’s story has found a perfect home with Renegade Books and I couldn’t be more delighted. I’m so proud to be joining a list that champions such a diverse range of voices.” 

Simpson said: “Angela was one of Dialogue Books’ first-ever authors when it launched as an imprint, and we are delighted that she will now continue to be published by them on the Renegade list under the expert direction and incomparable enthusiasm of Christina and the rest of the team.”