Writers & Lovers : A Novel
Author(s): Lily King
An extraordinary new novel of art, love and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times–bestselling author of Euphoria, which sold over 400,000 copies in North America.
Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with 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, mouldy 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 on to 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 humour, 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.
Review(s):
“The love-triangle plot proves to be a nimble vehicle for exploring the book’s true subject—overcoming, and making art from, hardship.”
“Delightful . . . An 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."
“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 . . . King has created an irresistible heroine – equally vulnerable and tenacious—and we’re immediately invested in her search for comfort, for love, for success.”
“A devastatingly clever, lyrically written story about passion, grief and growing up.”
“King is one of those rare writers who can entwine sadness, hilarity and burning fury in the briefest of moments.”
“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.”
“King’s gift is to suspend the reader, to make the wait for resolution fascinating.”
“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.”
“King has portrayed effectively and compassionately with well-crafted prose, evocative descriptions, and spot-on dialogue.”
“King weaves a kind of magic spell….When you finish her gorgeous prose, you’re likely to want more. ”
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2020
ISBN: 9781443460385