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Dear Darling
Not yet published
Expected 9 Apr 26
He is going to prove he loved me. I am going to prove he ruined me.
For those who loved My Dark Vanessa and Three Women, DEAR DARLING is a bold, beautiful and unflinching story about the crossed borders of desire – and one woman’s path to retribution.
Lauren Tan has waited for this day for twenty years.
The day she’d receive the letter saying he was out of prison.
The day she’d abandon her husband and three-year-old daughter, leaving her pretend life behind.
The day she’d look into the eyes of Daniel Prior – her first love, mentor and stepfather, the man she had sex with when she was fourteen years old.
The day she’d make him atone for everything.
Explosive and uncomfortable, beautiful and provocative, DEAR DARLING cuts to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.
Lauren Tan has waited for this day for twenty years.
The day she’d receive the letter saying he was out of prison.
The day she’d abandon her husband and three-year-old daughter, leaving her pretend life behind.
The day she’d look into the eyes of Daniel Prior – her first love, mentor and stepfather, the man she had sex with when she was fourteen years old.
The day she’d make him atone for everything.
Explosive and uncomfortable, beautiful and provocative, DEAR DARLING cuts to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 6, 2025
Ella King’s Dear Darling is a bold, unsettling, and beautifully written exploration of desire, betrayal, and retribution.
At its core is Lauren Tan, a woman who has carried the weight of her past for twenty years. The day she learns that Daniel Prior—her former mentor, first love, and stepfather—is released from prison, she abandons the life she has carefully constructed: her husband, her young daughter, her veneer of normalcy. What follows is a confrontation not only with Daniel, but with the trauma and tangled emotions that have shaped her since she was fourteen.
King’s prose is elegant yet unflinching, capturing the contradictions of love and ruin, intimacy and exploitation. The novel doesn’t shy away from discomfort; instead, it leans into it, forcing readers to grapple with the blurred borders of desire and the devastating consequences of abuse cloaked in affection. Lauren’s determination to make Daniel atone is both harrowing and cathartic, a journey that feels as much about reclaiming her voice as it does about vengeance.
What makes Dear Darling so powerful is its refusal to simplify. It’s provocative, layered, and deeply human, a story that resonates with the complexity of memory, trauma, and the longing for justice. For readers of My Dark Vanessa and Three Women, this novel offers a similarly fearless examination of power, desire, and survival—one that lingers long after the final page.
With thanks to Ella King, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
At its core is Lauren Tan, a woman who has carried the weight of her past for twenty years. The day she learns that Daniel Prior—her former mentor, first love, and stepfather—is released from prison, she abandons the life she has carefully constructed: her husband, her young daughter, her veneer of normalcy. What follows is a confrontation not only with Daniel, but with the trauma and tangled emotions that have shaped her since she was fourteen.
King’s prose is elegant yet unflinching, capturing the contradictions of love and ruin, intimacy and exploitation. The novel doesn’t shy away from discomfort; instead, it leans into it, forcing readers to grapple with the blurred borders of desire and the devastating consequences of abuse cloaked in affection. Lauren’s determination to make Daniel atone is both harrowing and cathartic, a journey that feels as much about reclaiming her voice as it does about vengeance.
What makes Dear Darling so powerful is its refusal to simplify. It’s provocative, layered, and deeply human, a story that resonates with the complexity of memory, trauma, and the longing for justice. For readers of My Dark Vanessa and Three Women, this novel offers a similarly fearless examination of power, desire, and survival—one that lingers long after the final page.
With thanks to Ella King, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Displaying 1 of 1 review