I’m not an author who listens to music while writing; I require complete, near monastic levels of silence. I love creating themed playlists, however, and when I’m in the heat of a project, it feeds my creative energy to go for a run or a walk while listening to music that’s in conversation with my work. For THE BELLES playlist, I set two rules for myself: (1) every song must have a direct tie to a character or plot point and (2) the lead vocal for every song had to be a woman. You can listen to the complete playlist here, ideally with a 10-12 second crossfade for maximum vibes.
“Just a Girl” by No Doubt
A tongue-in-cheek punk-pop anthem from No Doubt’s self-titled debut album, Gwen Stefani opens this banger with the line “take this pink ribbon off my eyes”—and all hell breaks loose from there. The song references both women’s lack of agency and our apparent need of protection while also being at the receiving end of unwanted attention and being forced to conform to an idealized performance of femininity for the male gaze. Like the young women in my novel THE BELLES, who are being shaped by mid-century feminine standards into gilded cages (or as Stefani sings, who are “living in captivity”), both the song’s narrator and the Belles are fed up.
“Cornflake Girl” by Tori Amos
This song appears on Amos’s magnificent album Under the Pink (another pink reference!) and she has spoken about the various influences behind it—including how women and girls willingly betray one another to win points with men and boys. Though the song’s narrator insists she never was part of the main group (“never was a cornflake girl”), she also didn’t fully fit in with the “raisin girls”—but no matter, because the betrayal here is framed as inevitable. The characters in THE BELLES are pressured to join the group at every turn—and the consequences are dire if a girl falls short.
“It’s a Fire” by Portishead
A haunting song with emotionally raw lyrics delivered in lead singer Beth Gibbons’ smooth alto, “It’s a Fire” speaks to the desperation that can be part of ambition, of wanting more—and when women want or, god forbid, want more, punishment in the form of group exclusion or societal take downs is almost certain to follow. The song also talks about the suffocating illusions and façades we create for ourselves (“I can’t breathe through this mask”) in order to move closer to our desires, only to destroy our true selves in the process. The characters in THE BELLES are severely sanctioned for stepping out of line, reinforcing that the only safe thing is to subsume their individuality in favor of group cohesion.
“Seven Devils” by Florence + the Machine
There are seven women at the center of the sinister events in THE BELLES. Seven women who paradoxically refute their lack of agency while also embracing the power of group identity. The actions the women take are a rejection of the strict limitations placed upon them, even though their actions turn dangerous and one of them doesn’t make it to graduation, let alone the end of the school year. The song, which the band’s lead singer Florence Welch says was partially inspired by a line in Chester Himes’s novel If He Hollers, Let Him Go, is both a wailing battle cry and an anguished refusal to give into an internal battle of self.
“O Death” rendition by Rhiannon Giddens
THE BELLES is set in the Appalachian region of southwest Virginia with its rich heritage of mountain music and traditional folk tunes that are an amalgamation of music from immigrant Scotch-Irish cultures and the traditions of both enslaved people and free Black communities. Giddens is one of the most prominent artists working to correct the erasure of Black folk musicians from mountain music. She’s also one hell of a vocalist. “O Death” is a conversation between two speakers: a person on death’s door and Death itself. Death is ever-present in THE BELLES—from the campus cemetery to the chorus of ghost girls who open the novel.
“Bad Girls” by M.I.A.
What does it mean to be a so-called bad girl? This catchy and defiant anthem brings women front and center in a song whose lyrics include traditional signifiers of performative toxic masculinity (chains, fast cars). Bad girls are empowered, the song suggests; bad girls break the rules and know exactly what they want. The characters in THE BELLES might be breaking a very different set of expectations at their oppressive 1950s college then M.I.A. sings about in this early aughts track that is wildly considered to be one of the best songs of century but make no mistake—the belles are pushing boundaries. The ripple effects will be felt across their lives.
THE BELLES by Lacey N. Dunham
In this richly atmospheric, dark academia debut novel, a young woman with a secretive past will risk everything—including her life—to fit in.
Belles never tell…
It’s 1951 at the secluded Bellerton College, and Deena Williams is an outsider doing her best to blend in with her wealthy and perfectly groomed peers. Infamous for its strict rules as much as its prestige, attending Bellerton could give Deena the comfortable life she’s always dreamed of.
She quickly forms an alliance with the five other freshmen on her floor, and soon they are singled out by the president’s wife as the most promising girls of their class, who anoints them: The Belles. They walk the college’s halls in menacing unison, matching velvet ribbons in their hair. But no sisterhood comes without secrets, and the Belles are no exception. Playing cruel pranks on their dormitory housemother and embarking on boundary-shattering night games, the Belles test the limits of the campus rules.
But as Deena begins to piece together the sinister history of Bellerton, her own past threatens to come to light, forcing her to make a dangerous choice. A chilling and seductive coming-of-age story, The Belles is an excavation of the dark side of girlhood, the intricacies of privilege, and the unbridled desire to belong at any cost.
Audiobook Narrator- Adenrele Ojo.
Thriller | Horror [Atria Books, On Sale: September 9, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781668084861 / eISBN: 9781668084885]
Buy THE BELLES: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Lacey N. Dunham
Lacey N. Dunham’s novel The Belles is forthcoming from Atria / Simon & Schuster on September 9, 2025. She has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and Catapult. Her writing has been published in Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Witness, and elsewhere. Born and raised on a small family farm, she now lives in Washington, DC.
No Comments
Comments are closed.