Dialogue picks up Elizabeth Lovatt title based on 90s lesbian helpline

Dialogue Books has signed Elizabeth Lovatt’s Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line, a "timely and vital" book based on a real 90s lesbian helpline.

Editorial director Hannah Chukwu acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Abi Fellows when she was at The Good Literary Agency. All other rights are now with DHH LIterary Agency, and the book will be published in February 2025.

"Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line reimagines the women who both called and volunteered for the Lesbian Line in the 1990s, while also tracing Lovatt’s own journey from accidentally coming out to disastrous dates to finding her chosen family," the synopsis says. "With callers and helpline agents alike dealing with first crushes and break-ups, sex and marriage, loneliness and illness (or simply the need to know the name of a gay bar on a night out), this is a celebration of the ordinary lives of queer women."

Lovatt is a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction, and was accepted onto Penguin Books’ #WriteNow mentorship scheme for underrepresented writers to develop the manuscript for this book. "Discovering the Lesbian Line helped me understand my own lesbian identity and place in history and I hope this book can do the same for others," the author said. "Hannah Chukwu has been a brilliant champion of my writing from the very beginning and alongside my agent, Abi Fellows, they have both been so incredibly supportive as the book came together."

Chukwu added: "This book holds such a special place in my heart – Elizabeth is an immensely talented writer, and this book is such a beautiful, creative and vital endeavour. We feel so privileged to be publishing this at Dialogue Books, and I will personally be pressing this into the hands of everyone I know."