A whip-smart coming-of-age novel about trying to be a funny woman in the male-dominated world of comedy and what happens when the most promising female star of her generation disappears.
In the 1980s, women were not supposed to be funny. But when a group of college improv comedians gets the chance to join a new late-night show, it's Lillian Martin who stands out. The new show was called The Midnight Show and it would air every Friday night, live from New York, and change the landscape of TV and comedy forever.
But first it would change Lillian's and her friends' lives. The show is a runaway hit and the cast is thrown into the spotlight. Suddenly, they're skipping the line at the city's hottest clubs and posing on the cover of Rolling Stone. Lillian, in particular, seems destined for big things. Until one night, she vanishes, leaving behind nothing but a pair of shoes in the middle of the Williamsburg Bridge.
Forty years later, Lillian's disappearance has never been solved. And when a budding journalist starts asking questions, she stirs up decades-old drama and secrets some would rather stay buried.
A page-turning story of fame and friendship, The Midnight Show takes readers behind the scenes of the cutthroat world of comedy in 1980s New York and asks if the rush of getting a laugh is all it's cracked up to be. "The Midnight Show is an utterly addictive read-I couldn't stop thinking about it once I started. Kelly and Thorne expertly capture the cutthroat world of late-night comedy in juicy, hilarious detail, with special attention to the women at the center of it all. I loved it!"-Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie
"Book clubs, behold your next great read. The Midnight Show is all the things: a brilliantly researched deep dive into the world of New York City comedy in the 1980s, a meticulously plotted mystery, and a big-hearted ode to complicated friendships in all their messy glory. Readers of Taylor Jenkins Reid will fall hard for this groundbreakingly original, utterly immersive story, with its cast of characters who feel impossibly real. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll immediately want to talk about it with everyone you know. At times comedic, at times tragic, but always unflinchingly human. A spellbinding, wildly imaginative book."-Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, USA Today bestselling author of Till Death Do Us Part and The Girls Are All So Nice Here Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne are the co-authors of historical adventure novels The Antiquity Affair, The Starlets, and My Fair Frauds (2025). Independently, Kelly is the author of the acclaimed speculative fiction novels City of Savages, A Criminal Magic, and With Regrets. A failed alumni of the Groundlings, Thorne is the USA Today bestselling author of Diavola, Lute, and the forthcoming Newbourne Park, as well as several books for younger readers.
