Writers & Lovers

Bookseller recommendation

“Casey is the writer of our time: in debt, trying to hang on to something like a writers' community, envious of others' successes, trying to choose where to live and how to make money and whom to love, while everything 'certain' around her changes: her restaurant job turns ugly, her apartment lease won't be renewed, her boyfriend isn't the person she thought he was. What's different about Casey's story? The honesty. The unpretentious intelligence. The (actually believable) happy ending, but more importantly, the moments when Casey describes the view from a car window, or a stop on her bike ride, or an awkward moment with a child or a dog, when you know you are sharing with her a moment of perfect clarity that both of you want to capture in words. Perfect for grown-up fans of Anne of Green Gables, or who wanted Sybylla to make it in My Brilliant Career, this novel can also hold its own among Women's Prize winners. With all the raw truth of a first novel and the invisible, but skilled, structure and language of an accomplished author, Writers and Lovers does something that feels impossible in the 2020s: It makes us believe, unironically and lovingly, in hope again.”

— Nialle • The Haunted Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“Casey is the brilliant and vulnerable protagonist in this well-written novel. She is a writer and is striving to have her novel published. When not writing, Casey is waiting tables in Cambridge. She finds herself torn between two lovers. One prospect is a famous writer who is a widower with two children. The other is Silas, who is a teacher and the less stable of the two suitors. He shows up whenever he feels like it. Through the book, Casey suffers a health scare which enables her to focus on what she really wants and needs in her life. The writing is spectacular. As I listened to this book, I wanted to take notes of the extraordinary language. The narrator was up to the task and did an exemplary job.”

— Melinda • Buttonwood Books and Toys

Bookseller recommendation

“I have had this book since last fall, but have been *saving* it for the right time and I am so thrilled I waited. Quarantine is the perfect time to allow Lily King to bring you gently into the world she creates in Writers & Lovers. A young woman who has recently lost her mother is waiting for the world to make itself known to her. Stuck in a dead end job while trying to finish her novel and find love, KC makes the reader not just feel FOR her, but feel WITH her. A beautifully written story that shows Lily King is at the top of her game.”

— Mary • Anderson's Bookshop

Bookseller recommendation

“Lily King captures what it’s like to be a creative person and not give up on your pursuits no matter what. I was hooked into this one. I really enjoyed this as a writer, but think this is really a great book for those who love contemporary, workplace fiction, literary fiction, and romance. Creatives are a strange breed, and this book shows what it’s like to live amongst fellow writers and experience relationships with one another. I highly enjoyed the juxtaposition of those two things.”

— Alex • Capital Books