Dirty Diana: A Novel by Jen Besser, Shana Feste

A deliciously provocative novel about a woman caught between the comfortable stability of her marriage and her memories of a more sensual past—the first book in a three-part series based on the #1 fiction podcast

“Diana Wood’s quest to reignite her sensual past while navigating the confines of her current marriage is funny and sexy​. Dirty Diana is wildly seductive—​perfect for anyone who loved The Idea of You.”—Renée Carlino, bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers and This Used to Be Us

Diana Wood has a job she likes and a husband, Oliver, she loves. Together, they have a daughter they adore. She and Oliver spend so much time together that they even carpool to work in the same office. They’re in married love, which isn’t exactly the same as love love, but it’s fine.

Or is it? Is fine good enough?

Diana and Oliver haven’t had sex in months, and their intimacy seems more like a memory than a reality. The cozy trappings of Diana’s life in Dallas, Texas, have become ever-more confining. She is restless, growing more distant from Oliver by the day.

A trip to see an old friend in Santa Fe prompts Diana to remember the woman she used to be: an aspiring artist; someone devoted to creativity, spontaneity, sensuality. In her past—especially with Jasper, the dashing photographer with whom she once had an unforgettable love affair—Diana let herself fantasize, she let her body lead the way. She was wholly . . . alive.

Returning to Dallas, Diana decides to rediscover the deeply feeling woman she once was. She begins interviewing other women, painting their portraits as they speak. She encourages them to give voice to their secret desires as she captures their deepest, innermost fantasies. But is it possible for Diana to reclaim her more sensual self and maintain the marriage she committed to? What if connecting to her own desires means dissolving the safe life she’s so carefully cultivated?