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Writers & Lovers: A Novel Paperback – February 16, 2021
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#ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today
Emma Roberts Belletrist Book Club Pick
A New York Times Book Review’s Group Text Selection
"I loved this book not just from the first chapter or the first page but from the first paragraph... The voice is just so honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life." —Curtis Sittenfeld
An extraordinary new novel of art, love, and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times bestselling author of Euphoria
Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with another instant New York Times bestseller: an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.
Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink.
Writers & Lovers follows Casey—a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist—in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King’s trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGrove Press
- Publication dateFebruary 16, 2021
- Dimensions5.25 x 1 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100802148549
- ISBN-13978-0802148544
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Review
Praise for Writers & Lovers:
New York Times Bestseller
New England Society's Book Award for Fiction
Named one of The Best Fiction Books of 2020 by Kirkus
One of Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2020
TODAY SHOW'S #READWITHJENNA MARCH SELECTION
EMMA ROBERTS' BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB APRIL SELECTION
A New York Times Book Review’s Group Text Selection
Amazon Spotlight Selection
Indie Next Pick
Named one of The 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 by Entertainment Weekly
Named one of 41 Best Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2020 by Vogue
Named one of 19 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2020 by The Amazon Book Review
Named one of The 2020 Books You Should Pre-Order Now by Marie Claire
Named one of 32 Best New Books of 2020 by Vulture
Named one of The Best New Books in Pick of the Week by People
Named One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2020
“[A] comic and compassionate novel… It shares with [Euphoria] a fascination with the difficulty of defining the worth of one’s life when the familiar markers of adult achievement are slow to materialize. With wit and what reads like deep insider wisdom, Ms. King captures the chronic low-level panic of taking a leap into the artsy unknown and finding yourself adrift, without land or rescue in sight.” —Maureen Corrigan, Wall Street Journal
"I loved this book not just from the first chapter or the first page but from the first paragraph... The voice is just so honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life." —Curtis Sittenfeld, London Evening Standard
“[D]elightful… [A]n unmistakable broadside against fiction’s love affair with macho strivers, even — or especially — when layers of lyricism and tenderness coat their machismo. The emotional force of Writers & Lovers is considerable…" —New York Times Book Review
“Romance isn’t the point for Casey. Love is the gravy; words are the filet. Finding a way to build a life around work she loves, finding a way to support herself as a writer — this is the line connecting all three corners of the love triangle at the heart of this novel.” —New York Times Book Review, Group Text Book Club
“This smooth, deliberate chronicle of creation keeps the men in their place and Casey firmly rooted at the center of her own story. Instead of casting her as a woman torn between archetypes of male creativity, Writers & Lovers portrays her as a woman in thrall to her own generative processes, a devotee to the art of (her own) attention.” —Los Angeles Times
“Among the elements that make Writers & Lovers so winning are the perfectly calibrated little details, convincing conversations, and droll wit…. Writers & Lovers is a book about passion, desire, grief, determination, and finding one's way. It's also about craving love, family, and success… generously infused with heart and soul and wit and wisdom.” —NPR
“Wonderful, witty, heartfelt… Writers & Lovers is a funny novel about grief, and, worse, it’s dangerously romantic, bold enough and fearless enough to imagine the possibility of unbounded happiness.” —Washington Post
“King has created a woman on the cusp of personal fulfillment and strong enough to stand on her own, someone akin to Sally Rooney’s Frances in Conversations with Friends... But King also situates Casey inside a variation of the which-lover-will-she-choose framework of, say, Nancy Meyers’s film Something’s Gotta Give... The novel is a meditation on trying itself: to stay alive, to love, to care. That point feels so fresh, so powerfully diametrically opposed to the readily available cynicism we’ve been feasting on... King wants us to keep trying, through whatever means necessary, to beat the odds.” —Boston Globe
“[A] poignant and heartfelt novel about the effects of grief and the paths people take to get through life. I couldn’t put the book down…” —Seattle Times
“This novel will become a defining classic for struggling young writers.”—Vulture
"King captures the agita of an early-life crisis and the eccentricities of a writer’s life, spiking the narrative with wit, sumptuous imagery and hilarious skewerings of literary elitism." —People
“King leaves no barrier between readers and smart, genuine, cynical, and funny Casey. A closely observed tale of finding oneself, and one's voice, while working through grief.”—Booklist (starred review)
"[A] charmingly written coming of age story." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[I]ntimate and vulnerable... Lily King's novel follows a deeply relatable protagonist navigating a whole menu of crises surrounded by a cast of genuine, vivid characters... the book occupies a small space, but packs it to the brim with humanity." —Entertainment Weekly
“[A] down-to-earth saga of an extremely bright and likable single woman wrestling with sexual desires, emotional dreads… an engaging portrait of a woman confronting modern hardships.” —Associated Press
“King has portrayed effectively and compassionately with well-crafted prose, evocative descriptions, and spot-on dialogue.” —New York Journal of Books
"[F]unny and romantic and hard to put down, full of well-observed details of restaurant culture and writer's workshops. It's hard to imagine a reader who wouldn't root for Casey." —Library Journal (starred review)
"A knowing look at the pursuit of a life in the arts, with a protagonist you'll root for." —Marie Claire
“Elegant… The nimble, astute narration appeals. This meditation on the passing of youth is touching and ruefully funny.” —Publishers Weekly
“King is one of those rare writers who can entwine sadness, hilarity and burning fury in the briefest of moments.” —BookPage
“[A]n extraordinary novel… King beautifully documents every aspect of Casey’s character. Casey’s insights into the world of writing are fascinating nd often humorous…. The prose [is] linguistically sophisticated, clean and uncluttered.” —Midwest Book Review
“Seemingly light and breezy, the novel has an impressively steely core… Writers & Lovers has one of the most completely satisfying endings around, both surprising and solidly in character.” —Columbus Dispatch
“[R]emarkably funny… full of moments of keen observation, of wry remarks about the challenges of writing and the awkwardness of early love.” —Bookreporter
“Writers & Lovers made me happy. Even as the narrator grieves the loss of her mother and struggles to make art and keep a roof over her head, the novel is suffused with hopefulness and kindness. Lily King writes with a great generosity of spirit." —Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House
“Lily King is one of our great literary treasures and Writers & Lovers is suffused with her brilliance. It is captivating, potent, incisive, and wise, a moving story of grief, and recovering from grief, and of a young woman finding her courage for life.” —Madeline Miller, author of Circe
“Gorgeous!” —Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitteridge
"Writers & Lovers is a portrait of the artist as a young woman. Lily King writes masterfully about desire and loss, creativity and inspiration, and how each overlaps and influences the other. I found myself reading slowly, underlining phrases, wanting to linger in the world of this novel. Her insights about love — how it is elusive and ineffable — and about grief — how it is something that you live inside — took my breath away.” —Christina Baker Kline, author of A Piece of the World
“Writers & Lovers stole my heart from its first pages. I am in love with this book. In. Love. This deep dive of a novel will stay with me forever.” —Elin Hilderbrand, author of Summer of ‘69
“My favourite of Lily King’s books so far. Exuberant and affirming, it’s funny and immensely clever, emotionally rare and strong. I feel bereft now I've finished.” —Tessa Hadley, author of Late In The Day
"If you loved The Friend but wish it had had more sex and waitressing, get ready for Lily King’s Writers and Lovers. Delicious.” —Emma Straub
Praise for Euphoria:
“Taut, witty, fiercely intelligent… King is brilliant.” —New York Times Book Review
“Intense, seductive, sexual, and intellectual… There are so many exhilarating elements to savor in Euphoria… Brava to Lily King.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“As concentrated as orchid food, packing as much narrative power and intellectual energy into its 250 pages as novels triple its size.” —Newsday
“Atmospheric and sensual… An intellectually stimulating tour de force.” —NPR
Praise for Father of the Rain:
“Surprising and wise…An absorbing, insightful story written in cool, polished prose right to the last conflicted line.” —Washington Post
“King is a beautiful writer, with equally strong gifts for dialogue and internal monologue.” —New York Times Book Review
“Haunting, incisive…King is brilliant.” —Elle
“An excellent novel, sensitive and perceptive.” —Chicago Tribune
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Grove Press; Reprint edition (February 16, 2021)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0802148549
- ISBN-13 : 978-0802148544
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 1 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #26,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,364 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #2,426 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #9,336 in Contemporary Romance (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Writers & Lovers: A Novel
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About the author
Lily King grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.A. in English Literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. She has taught English and Creative Writing at several universities and high schools in this country and abroad.
Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Her third novel, Father of the Rain (2010), was a New York Times Editors Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Novel of the Year and winner of both the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Fiction Award. Lily's new novel, Euphoria, was released in June 2014. It has drawn significant acclaim so far, being named an Amazon Book of the Month, on the Indie Next List, and hitting numerous summer reading lists from The Boston Globe to O Magazine and USA Today. Reviewed on the cover of The New York Times, Emily Eakin called Euphoria, “a taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace.”
Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Writer's Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.
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King’s Storytelling – I’ve seen some call it uneven, but I didn’t see that. From start to finish I was captivated by Casey’s story and fully immersed in Lily King’s gorgeous writing.
Grief – In the story, Casey (already estranged from her father) has recently lost her mother and King’s exploration of her grief resonated throughout the story. She made me ache for Casey’s loss.
“I might still be capable of feeling happy. She will want to know that. But I can’t tell her. That’s the wall I always slam into on a good morning like this. My mother will be worrying about me, and I can’t tell her I’m okay.”
“During the day I miss the novel. I’ve lost access to a world where my mother is a little girl reading in a window or twirling in fast circles on the street, her braids raised high off her back. Outside of that novel she is dead. There seems no end to the procession of things that make my mother feel more dead.”
“I’m in the mood to call my mother, that happy shift in the wind mood. I calculate the time in Phoenix. Nearly noon. Perfect. The bolt retracts, and I remember she died.“
The Writing Process – I enjoyed getting to know a character that had been completely consumed by the creative process for years. To her own financial and personal detriment, Casey could not let go. I also appreciated how self-aware Casey was, constantly questioning herself and where her life was going, yet through it all, she kept at it.
Relationships – In the past, Casey has been involved with men who were never quite right for her. As Writer’s & Lovers unfolds she meets two very different men, both writers like herself, each adding a layer of confusion to her life.
“It’s a particular kind of pleasure, of intimacy, loving a book with someone.”
Cast of Characters – I thoroughly enjoyed the entire group of characters that moved in and out of Casey’s life and I especially enjoyed those at the restaurant where she worked.
The Ending – Casey’s crisis point and its resolution worked for me. I even got a little teary at the end.
From start to finish, I delighted living in Casey’s world, watching the evolution of a young writer on the brink of change. Obviously, I highly recommend Writers & Lovers.
Note: I received a copy of this book from Grove Press (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
But if you're the sort of person who throws books across the room anytime a deus ex machina appears ... just skip it, for your own sake. Almost anything good that happens to the protagonist feels painfully forced.
** Many, many spoilers ahead **
Maybe this is book a little bit too realistic, because the depressed/anxious narrator is SO depressed and anxious that she never manages to do anything likable. She just trudges through life in a slow-motion panic. If the book's aim were simply to be an accurate portrayal of grief, this might still be worth reading about -- hell, I loved The Road and it doesn't get more miserable than The Road, right?
But no, against all odds, there's romance mixed in. This woman sounds like she's barely managing to stay upright, but somehow she manages to date not one, but two entire men, who somehow are really interested in her despite the fact that she is plainly decimated by grief to the point of not having a personality. What attracts these men? The exhaustion? The undereye circles? Because both are repeatedly described, by both the narrator and by other people who are startled by how bad the narrator is looking these days.
The source of attraction for anyone involved, including the narrator, is not clear. We only get to witness a few snippets of conversation throughout both relationships, and it's all pretty dull with a few deviations into mild quirkiness. At one point, I was so startled by a man taking ahold of her arms and kissing her that I had to back up and read it again, because their entire brief conversation up until that point was so mundane that I thought I must have missed something. And it was their first conversation, it's not as if there was some additional context to make it believable. But no, he's just reaching for her in the park even though they barely know each other, and she's cheerfully rolling with it instead of screaming, which is what I would be doing if someone came at me after five boring minutes of our first conversation.
Shortly afterward, this man tells her that she is the first woman he's cared about in years, and somehow it's not an epic red flag to this thirtysomething woman that a wealthy man is THIS interested in an exhausted sad waitress, all because they stood in a park and talked about trees for a few minutes.
Eventually, of course, the narrator must make a choice between the man who is wealthy but clearly awful, and the underwhelming man who doesn't bother to communicate well or reassure her at times when anyone with half a brainwave would have been able to deduce that a little reassurance would be appropriate (such as when he doesn't get in touch because he is sick for several days). She chooses the underwhelming one who doesn't know how to use his words or his phone, and Mr. Radio Silence "forgives" her for not trusting him more despite the fact that he gave her zero reason to trust him in the first place. Yay?
If the biggest conflict of the novel feels forced (woman's student loans have left her in dire financial straits because her discovery that her golf-coach dad was a misdemeanor-level perv somehow permanently ruined the entire sport of golf for her?? and also she just noped out to Spain for two years and defaulted on everything because it's fun to make bad situations way worse?), the resolution is even more so: she basically suddenly gets everything she wanted, including a job at an amazing school because somehow, again, there are all kinds of people sprinkled throughout this book who cannot get enough of this woman even though she's too busy stumbling bleakly through a grief-stricken existence to be confident, charming, or clever.
It's at the point when this sad-sack protagonist asks for the exact amount of money she would need to solve all of her problems, and actually GETS THAT AMOUNT, that you start to wonder if you're being trolled. But it's too late now, because that's the end of the book.
Top reviews from other countries
There's something cold about Writers & Lovers, slight and insubstantial. The writing is occasionally quite good, with some amusingly sparky dialogue, but the novel never takes off, the characters a mere watercolor shadow of what they could be. At no point during the novel did I find myself caring what happened to Casey or indeed to any other characters apart from Harry and the two young boys, who were written with the charm that the others lacked.
I really wanted to love this book, and I really was excited when it finally came out - I've been waiting a long time for Lily King's next book - so I admit my expectations were high. Unfortunately, they were ultimately disappointed.