Writers & Lovers

A Novel

De: Lily King

Narrado por: Stacey Glemboski

#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

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, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she has 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.

©2020 Lily King (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

A refreshing heartfelt story

This book was a refreshing change. Author made me feel like we all have our own unique problems.The problems we have may not always work out the way we think but in some way they just may work out better than we thought they would. we all are aa little crazy

Unexpectedly AMAZING

At first when I started reading this book, I was confused and sad because my mom died unexpectedly too. I didn’t think I had the courage to read or listen to this book. But it turns out this was exactly the unexpected thing that I needed. The storytelling was beautiful, thoughtful, deliberate and real. I don’t want to give the ending away. But I too today; am an a fearless blue giraffe for the first time in a long time. Lily, thank you for your beautiful, honest, raw look at life and how one event can change the direction of your life from unimaginably painful into unimaginably beautiful and hopeful.

Loved it!

Such beautiful writing! I really enjoyed this one and was sad when it was over.

Lackluster story

This was a struggle to finish. I didn't really care about the story until the last hour & a half. If it weren't for this being the book picked by my book club, I probably wouldn't have finished it. We all agreed, the last 45 minutes of story were the best.

Too much left unsaid.

I enjoyed the story but did not feel that the characters, especially the two major male "lovers" were fully developed. There was very little that pointed to their differences. I'm not convinced that she is ready for a relationship yet.

Relatable, Poetically Written Novel is no Easy Beach Read

The prose itself was probably my favorite part. Beautifully written, there were many moments that I highlighted certain passages because of the timeless prose- this book is full of cleverly written lessons of life, love, writing, the tortured artist life, death, grief, and growing up. It’s a sort of coming of age novel that many 20 somethings can relate to- the broke, down on her luck waitress who wants to be an author who can still pay the rent, and find her one true love struggles with mental health issues, the loss of her mother, and the toll her grief takes on her job, relationships, and overall well-being. She’s a like able character who I felt very close to, I was cheering her on the whole time. However, her down on her luck sob story soon becomes slightly irritating, only so many bad things can happen to one person before you start to feel negative just reading about the depressing things that keep happening to her over and over. I had to put it down a few times because it was heavy at points- those times I feel the author lost her ability to write eloquently and lingered on the descriptions of panic attacks too long, making me feel panicky myself. From an anxiety sufferers POV King does a phenomenal job explaining anxiety- that feeling of not fitting right in your own body- and I do love her way of educating the readers on mental illness and what it really feels like on the inside/what it looks like to others such as bosses or romantic interests on the outside. I liked the end, however I felt it was missing something. I was left feeling a bit uneasy about what will become of the main character, I wasn’t fully satisfied. The performance isn’t bad- but some of the voices the reader does are hard to listen to, like when she does the little boy voices or men voices. The tone doesn’t always match the authors intent- a kind man can end up sounding sleazy with the voice that’s used for the kind mans dialogue and so on. Must read if you’re from Boston, so many connections which was fun. Overall, I loved this book but it does get pretty depressing and if you relate to the character and love her like I did, it can be hard getting through her panic attacks and moments of heavy grief and depression. Not a light and easy beach read, but there’s enough light in the story to still make it a great summer read. Just don’t read it when you are sad already!

Pretentious and name dropping

And I didn't even know it care about the names she was dropping. Best part of the book was learning about what waitressing is like as a job. Characters are all neurotic and whiny

Expertly performed!

I couldn’t stop listening to this book and thoroughly enjoyed it! The writing is excellent and Lily King is becoming one of my favorite authors.

Authentic characters

I felt like I could relate to Casey as if she were someone I once knew. The narrator captures her spirit beautifully.

First book in years! Book Club Belair.

Really liked the reader, Glemboski. Alot of the story she was depressed but true to life for a writer. I love the happy endings as we all know life evolves!