Kelly Bishop’s debut novel, Gilmore Girls star’s first work of fiction, is scheduled for release in Fall 2027. This article outlines the story, its characters and the details announced about Broad Appeal.

Kelly Bishop, who played family matriarch Emily Gilmore throughout the original seven-season run of Gilmore Girls and its 2016 Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, will publish her first novel, Broad Appeal, in Fall 2027.

Bishop, known for her acclaimed roles in A Chorus Line and Dirty Dancing, is adding fiction to her career as an actor and author. After publishing her 2024 memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl, Bishop is making her novel debut with a story described as a blend of Sex and the City and The Golden Girls.

Published by William Morrow and written with Ali Rosen, a New York Times bestselling author, Broad Appeal follows Roz, a woman in her late 70s whose “comfortable Upper West Side life is upended when rising housing costs threaten her ability to keep the apartment she loves.” To avoid losing her home, Roz takes in three roommates who gradually become family. They include her “eccentric entomologist sister-in-law, a former trophy wife rebuilding after financial disaster and a spirited dance teacher she met while protesting gentrification in Spanish Harlem.”

Broad Appeal brings together the quick-witted banter associated with The Golden Girls and a later-in-life take on Sex and the City. The story follows its central characters as sharing a home brings them closer, first by circumstance and eventually by choice. William Morrow describes the novel as a witty, often intense story about the complexities of human relationships and a stage of life that is less frequently explored in fiction.

Bishop has said her enthusiasm for Broad Appeal comes from exploring the story as a whole, adding that she has “always believed that growing older doesn’t mean growing smaller.” The novel centers women in a later phase of life, drawing on themes that connect with Bishop’s established work as a performer.

Kelly Bishop won a Tony for originating the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line before playing Marjorie Houseman, Baby’s mother, in Dirty Dancing. Her television work includes seven seasons as Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, which aired from 2000 to 2007, followed by roles as Fanny Flowers on Bunheads from 2012 to 2013 and Benedetta in seasons 4 and 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Bishop also worked with Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, on later projects.

Broad Appeal tells the story of four characters through friendship, heartbreak, humor and found family. The novel marks Bishop’s move from memoir to fiction, with a focus on relationships formed among its four central women.