EXALTED

A deliciously dark novel that explores desire, the projection of love, and what we're really searching for when we keep scrolling.

Emily Forrest runs the hottest astrology account on Instagram, @Exalted. But astrology is on the outs, and her finances are dwindling. Emily doesn't even really believe in astrology, that is until she comes across a birth-chart that could potentially change her mind. Tres Rubidoux's chart feels blessed, all the planets in their right places - Exalted, just like the name of her account. She considers the chart's owner to be divine intervention and potentially the love of her life. Naturally obsessive, Emily begins following Tres around Los Angeles in hopes of getting close to him. But when she eventually captures his attention, their connection is shockingly different than she hoped it would be. Dawn Webster has been dumped once again. At 48, she is forced to return to the Riverside restaurant where she started waiting tables at 18. With no girlfriend, no career, and her only son gone to Hollywood, the once-vivacious Dawn is aimless and alone. In her spare time, she guzzles cheap champagne and peruses @Exalted to feel seen. When Dawn spots her son's estranged father one day during a work break, she decides to track him down and reshape the flailing course of her life. Readers will understand the connection between Emily and Dawn before the characters themselves, watching the impending disaster slowly unfold. At its core, Exalted explores the stories we tell ourselves to stay afloat. It couldn't take place anywhere but Los Angeles, a place people move to be someone else. Anna Dorn has a JD from UC Berkeley Law School, an MFA from Antioch University-Los Angeles, and a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill. A former criminal justice lawyer, her article on juvenile life without parole was published by American University Law Review. She has written about culture for Vice, LA Review of Books, and Bitch Magazine. Her debut novel, Vagablonde, was published by Unnamed Press in May 2020, and her memoir, Bad Lawyer, was be published by Hachette Books in May 2021.