UCP Options Upcoming Laura Lippman Novel ‘Prom Mom’ (EXCLUSIVE)

UCP has optioned Laura Lippmans new upcoming novel Prom Mom, Variety has learned exclusively.

Its exciting to know that readers already are responding so enthusiastically to Prom Mom, which was partly inspired by and very much formed by the strange, dark early days of the pandemic, said Lippman. Ive always been fascinated by and terrified of people who believe absolutely in their own goodness, and Prom Mom gave me a chance to explore just how far such people might go in pursuit of their own happiness, no matter the cost to others.

The news comes one day ahead of the novels release on July 25. No network or streamer is currently attached, nor is there currently a writer set to adapt the book due to the ongoing writers strike.

The official synopsis for the book states: Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will forever be known as Prom Momthe girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chanceas long as she stays away from Joe, now a successful commercial real estate developer, married to a plastic surgeon, Meredith, to whom he is devoted. The problem is Amber cant stay away from Joe. And Joe finds that its increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber if only because she remembers the boy he was and the man he said he was going to be. Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line theyve been trying not to cross. And then Joe asks Amber to help him do the unthinkable

Lippman has published over two dozen novels to date, including 12 in the Tess Monaghan private detective series alone. Another of her works, Lady in the Lake, is being adapted into a limited series starring Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram at Apple, while her novel Every Secret Thing was adapted into a film in 2014. Lippman began her writing career as a journalist, spending 12 years at The Baltimore Sun.

She is repped by WME, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency, and attorney Darren Trattner.