Writers & Lovers: A Novel

By 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. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781443460392

Lily King

LILY KING is the New York Times–bestselling author of five novels: The Pleasing Hour, The English Teacher, Father of the Rain, Euphoria and Writers & Lovers, and a story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Her work has won numerous prizes, including the Kirkus Prize, the New England Book Award for fiction, the Maine Literary Award and the Whiting Award. She was also the winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Lily King lives in Portland, Maine.  

Reviews for Writers & Lovers

[joecanas_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Dull. And. Pointless. Bloated novella, or journal entries awaiting serious editing? Especially disappointing after the amazing Euphoria.

[maryreinert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Loved "Euphoria" by this author, but this left me completely cold. A single young woman in her 30's is trying to become a writer. She is currently a waitress living in a small rented apartment of a friend of her brother. Really nothing much happens in this book except her internal angst about trying to find herself. None of the characters are particularly likeable and i just could not get into it. Would not have finished except book club selection.

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Casey Peabody has always wanted to be a writer. At 31, she finds herself waiting tables, living in a run-down garage and with several debt collectors on her heels. For six years she has worked on her novel but somehow it does not work out, too high the pressure from real life. When her mother died a couple of months before, she not only lost her confidant, but constantly feels the big hole this loss left behind in her. Then she meets Oscar, a successful writer and widowed father of two, who seems to be the way out of her misery: a lovely home, stable relationship, two adorable boys, a life without worries. But it does not feel right, especially since there is Silas, too, quite the opposite of Oscar. When Casey is fired from the restaurant and her landlord tells her that the house is to be sold, the anxiety that has accompanied her for years becomes unbearable.Raise your hand is you never dreamt of writing a novel. Isn’t that what we as avid readers long for? To intrigue others with what is lurking within ourselves and, of course, to be praised and complimented for our artistic capacities. Well, that’s just one side of being a writer, many more authors will actually have to face a life just like Casey: never to know if you can make the ends meet, frustrated because the writing does not move on, the words do not come, taking on any job just to survive and organising the writing around working hours. Lily King has painted quite a realistic picture of a novelist’s situation in “Writers & Lovers”. Yet, that’s by far not all the novel has to offer.Her protagonist belongs to the generation who struggles to grow-up. They have been promised so much, they were full of energy in their twenties, but now, hitting 30, they have to make a decision: giving up their dreams for a conservative and boring but secure life just like the one their parents lead or going on with a precarious living that feels totally inadequate. No matter how they decide, it could be the wrong choice and the fear of not picking the right thing paralyses them, an overwhelming anxiety takes over control making them incapable of moving on or doing anything at all. They are stuck in a never-ending rat race which covers all areas of their life. Casey is the perfect example of her generation, highly educated, intelligent, good at dealing with people but nevertheless full of doubts about herself and frustrated by the constant setbacks. I totally adored the novel, it is somehow a coming-of-age at a later age novel. The characters are authentically represented, the emotional states are wonderfully conveyed and thus easy to follow. Even though there is quite some melancholy in it, I did not feel saddened since it also provides a lot of hope just never to give up since all could turn out well in the end.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I don't like it when artists use their art to expound upon art. For example, movies that are about the film industry. Hollywood gushes over them but for me, some of those inside subtleties are totally lost on me. Like La La Land -- I can't be the only person who left the movie theater wondering what was the big deal about this film. Similarly, I don't like books that are about authors trying to write a book. It feels a little self-absorbed and the 'woe is me' seems self-pitying. But I found Writers & Lovers to be exceptional. Casey's efforts and sacrifice to create her first novel were tangible. It was painful to see how she struggled for YEARS to eke out a living while trying to write her book. It was heroic and epic, like Frodo carrying that huge burden all the way to Mordor, and I felt her anguish and her set backs and her struggle with the temptation to throw in the towel and take a day job in an office.Highly, highly recommend this book!

[bruyere_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant and true.

[midwestms · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent look at grief and the struggle to maintain the will to create in the face of seemingly constant failure.

[hccpsk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Writers & Lovers feels like Lily King reached into my brain, pulled out some of my favorite things, some of my memories, wrapped them all up in her gorgeous prose and presented this amazing gift to me. Casey Peabody is 31, waits tables at a high-end restaurant in Cambridge while trying to finish the novel she’s been working on for six years. Casey has a lot of problems--debt collectors, a recently broken heart, some physical ailments and she is still grieving her mother’s sudden death the previous year. With all that, somehow King still manages to write a book full of funny and hopeful moments. The story falters at points (the end...ugh), but King’s writing wins the day with such simple yet incredibly thoughtful and emotional moments. (“I don’t write because I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse.” Sigh.) Writers & Lovers hit me with a lot of personal connections--Boston, restaurants, books, writing--but kept me with everything it became. A definite TBR for readers of Emma Straub, David Nicholls, Meg Wolitzer, etc.I received an ARC through Edelweiss+

[nivramkoorb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the 2nd book that I read by Lily King. I enjoyed Euphoria and thought this was excellent as well. As the title implies it deals with the process of writing and also dealing with love relationships. Casey Peabody is a 31 year old struggling writer living in Cambridge. She works as a waitress in a high end Boston restaurant, lives in a one room place, struggles with massive student loan debt, and the deals with the recent sudden death of her mother. King also throws in a troubled upbringing, male relationships, health issues, and dealing with her 6 years of trying to finish her first novel. I found the story engaging from the start. King is an excellent writer and although 1st person narratives can be tricky, this one not only gets into Casey's head but does a good job of letting us get to know the other characters in the book. King did throw some real tough stuff at Casey that I thought was a little over the top but she did a good job of resolving things in a positive way but didn't do it in an easy cliche manner. If you like good writing this book really is a salute to writers and the writing process. At 320 pages it is an easy read and a good way to make it through your shelter in place. I will definitely check out more books by King.

[angelalam-300700 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I gobbled up this book in 4 days.

[brangwinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Here’s a positive about a pandemic. I was able to sit down and read this book in one day. That’s a perfect setting for a book I enjoy. Casey is trying to writer a novel, but she’s stuck living in an “apartment” that used to be a potting shed. She is a waitress in an upscale restaurant near Harvard University. She’s moved a lot in her 31 years including Spain. Her mother has recently died, and this has thrown her for a loop. She and her mother were very close. She’s basically estranged from her father. And then two romantic interests come into her life and she struggles who is the better choice. I love the descriptions of the people with whom she works at the restaurant. It opened my eyes to the people serving me my food actually have a life beyond me. And then I’m always a sucker for a book with a good ending. She picked the right guy. She’s figured out what really matters in life!

[novelcommentary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I usually read a few noted reviews of a book after I finish it, but before I do that I just wanted to record how much I enjoyed King's latest novel. Maybe it was because of the current containment mandate, but I ripped through this book in just a few days and loved the emotions it gave me. Casey, our protagonist, is a bright 31 year old struggling in life for many reasons, college debt, boyfriend heartbreaks, and the loss of her mother. She waitresses in a high end restaurant in Boston and the reader gets a great feel for that life. It reminded me of Sweet bitter in that respect. We hear about Casey's two loves before the present time of the novel and then experience two more boyfriends that are at times competing both in her heart and as chapters in the novel. Both are writers, one is established and fairly famous, the other struggling along like her. Meanwhile through it all we see her stability waver, the bees under her skin, she calls them as she tries to juggle all this while always trying to write the famous American novel. This one about Cuba and a young girls decision about love and the revolution. Casey becomes a compelling character and as we root for her we get more invested in the story. Highly recommend this novel and look forward to exploring Euphoria, her earlier one that I missed. Some lines:Nia met a Milton scholar with excellent posture and a trust fund, who handed her novel back after reading fifteen pages, saying first-person female narratives grated on him. She chucked it in the dumpster, married him, and moved to Houston when he got a job at Rice.I’m both the sad person and the person wanting to comfort the sad person. And then I feel sad for that person who has so much compassion because she’s clearly been through the same thing, too. And the cycle keeps repeating. It’s like when you go into a dressing room with a three-paneled mirror and you line them up just right to see the long narrowing hallway of yourselves diminishing into infinity. It feels like that, like I’m sad for an infinite number of my selves.when I stood on the porch of my cabin the first morning I remembered my mother’s fawn-colored jacket with the white wool cuffs and collar and the smell of her wintergreen Life Savers in the left zip pocket. I heard her say my name, my old name, Camila, that only she called me. I felt the slippery seat in her blue Mustang, cold through my tights.I told him the things that were coming back to me about my mother when I was little: her lemon smell and her gardening gloves with the rubber bumps and her small square toes that cracked when she walked barefoot. Her tortoiseshell headbands that were salty at the tips if you sucked on them.My body aches from my throat to my groin. I want him to slide his fingers into my bathing suit and make all the heaviness and misery go away. I feel like a hag in a fairy tale, waiting to be made young and supple again.The air smells like a cocktail party from the seventies, aftershave and martini onions.

[jillrhudy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Writers and Lovers" has its title in the right order: the book is primarily about the craft of writing. The torment of writing; the delight of writing. The aversion to writing; the all-consuming desire to write. The guilt of not having written, the need for discipline in order to keep writing. The abrupt departure of the muse. It’s only fitting that the novel is well written. Some sentences are so finely crafted that they hit the reader like a bolt from the blue.Young Casey is working as restaurant wait staff in Boston, dealing with bereavement, post-traumatic stress, health scares, heartbreak, and debt. Debt—from student loans, of course—may be causing Casey the most anxiety of all; she calls it her “looming blank specter.” An unfinished novel, six years in progress, is calling to Casey over the din of angry diners and debt collectors. She’s clinging to the impractical dream of life as an artist and always wants to call her mother, forgetting that her mother died months ago. As the novel progresses, she’s torn between two different men, both of whom are also writers.Readers will root for Casey to reach the next stage of her life, with good career, stable finances, good health, a healthy relationship, or, at the very least, a good, published, profitable novel.I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and was encouraged to submit an honest review.

[kenkarpay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great writing. Surprisingly engaging story about a struggling writer.

[cherybear · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thirty-something Casey has lots of debt, works as a waitress, drifts in and out of love affairs, and is trying to finish writing her novel. I felt like I could identify with her. Things seem to wrap up a little too neatly, but it's a good read.

[ansate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this feels mean, but - it made me feel things, it made me cry, but I didn't really enjoy the experience. Excellent job getting me into a sad woman's headspace.

[hairball_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unexpectedly wonderful. Everything about the description made it sound like it would be painful, but instead I couldn’t stop reading.

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

King has a real talent for writing sentences and at times slips into the poetic in a very beguiling way. "I want to take that sound and stuff it into a bag with rocks and throw it in the river." Her narrator is struggling with oppressive debt, getting dumped, the death of her mother and writer's block. Meanwhile she supports herself by working as a waitress. King captures the spirit of the disjointed and forlorn without being overly romantic...[in progress]

[jphamilton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just finished this purely masterful novel. The pacing, the sensitivity, the passions of the different characters, the gritty down-and-out quality of it, and the glorious ending lit up my heart. Books that touch me like this novel are exactly why I read, and they’re what I’m constantly searching for in novels of all forms and style. It’s a very intelligent book, that’s set in 1997, and centered on writers, some who have found some success, and those who are struggling. Our main character, Casey Peabody, is 31 and rightly feels that life has been cruelly tossing her around for too many years. While growing up, she had a troubled relationship with her father, who forced her into being a child golf prodigy. After taking on $75,000 in debts to get her M.F.A., she finds herself being constantly hounded by creditors. Her long love relationship ended, and her mother unexpectedly died during a trip in Chile. Casey was suffering, but doing her best to deal with it herself. To most people Casey is a waitress at Iris, an upscale restaurant on Harvard Square, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Those who are closer to her know that she had been struggling to finish her manuscript, Love and the Revolution, for six years. As the story develops, she is involved with two men: Oscar, an older novelist of some stature, who’s raising two young boys himself; and Silas, a struggling writer much closer to her own age. She has a good relationship with Oscar’s boys, and Oscar is a sweet man who shows her real affection and offers her much in life. With Silas, there is a burning passion, but then he will be out of touch for days. After a while, she finishes her manuscript—and with great excitement sends it out to publishers—only to start a bitter collection of rejection letters. Eventually she gets an agent and interest in her work starts to grow. Meanwhile, her waitressing career seems to end, she chooses between Oscar and Silas, and finds an interesting teaching job. That’s enough, I’m not going to reveal everything. Casey’s passion for her writing is intense, and though her progress seemed difficult many times, completing and successfully revising her book is a wild mix of emotions. I loved how King writes about maneuvering the writing/publishing world. Write about writing and bookselling and you’re already halfway there to getting your in so many bookstores. I love all the side stories and the full cast of characters. There is no tedious misdirection in the book, people appear, situations change, she doubts so much, and love/passion/companionship/lust possess and confuse her... often all at the very same time. King doesn’t combined all these elements using some tricky plot device, they all come at Casey, just in the way life comes at most of the rest of us. I’ll leave you with author Elizabeth Strout’s spot on review of the book—“Gorgeous.”

[beth.clarke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put down this novel and not because the plot was engrossing, it's really not, but the writing was fluent and emotional. I'm not sure I've read anything like this before. The protagonist, Casey, is my best friend, she's the person I once was, she someone all of us know. Amazing character development. This novel won't be for everyone, but it just resonated with me, and I loved it.

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As you would expect from the title, this novel is about the writing and love life of the main character, Casey, a 31 year old waitress in Boston. She struggles with low pay, overwhelming loan debt, doubt regarding the novel she's writing, and grief over the death of her mother. Her waitressing job at a high end Boston restaurant both tires her out and gives her relationships. She meets a fellow aspiring author at a book reading and is almost immediately smitten. Then she meets an author whom she has admired when she serves him and his sons at her restaurant, and he courts her. As she navigates the two relationships while still trying to get her book recognized, she grapples with what's actually important to her. Having been a waitress, and having lived in Boston without enough money, the narrative and dialog rang absolutely true. Casey is someone I have known and will look forward to meeting some day.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was so happy to see that my library had the kindle book available for borrowing, because I've read and loved all of King's books (except for The English Teacher). This was another 5 star. Beautifully written, in a wonderful authentic voice that made it seem like a memoir. Three relationships, waitressing while trying to write and be with her lovers, and a happy ending that was a little to pat but still - just a wonderful book.

[bostonbibliophile · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very ho-hum for me, a quick read, kind of a Cinderella story about a woman struggling to write and make a life for herself. I can see how it would appeal to people who like to read about writers. It wasn't badly written per se but for me kind of dull. Nice Boston/Cambridge local color if you like that kind of thing.

[mojomomma_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Casey is a struggling writer living in her brother's friends garage and waiting tables so that she can write. After six years she finally finished her novel. Now will anyone buy it? While she waits for the verdict she deals with grief over her mother's sudden death in the previous year, giant student load debts, indecision in love, and a breast lump. Happy ending, but the middle part is sure depressing.

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As the title implies, Lily King’s Writers and Lovers has two major themes, the writing life and the romantic life of its heroine, Camila ‘Casey’ Peabody. As a thirty-one year old waitress who is troubled by the death of her mother, a sour relationship with her father, and thousands of dollars worth of student loan debt, Casey finds that only one thing keeps her going, and that’s the novel she’s been working on for the past six years. Will the novel ever get published? Will she ever find a nice apartment in overpriced Cambridge, Massachusetts? And which of her two desirable suitors should she choose? These questions and others form the bulk of the novel, but I found that I was most interested in the observations about writing than in the standard issue romantic-comedy plot points. This novel has some good moments, but in general I didn’t feel it lived up to its advance billing.

[pgchuis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.This is the story of Casey, who is living in a converted potting shed, working as a waitress, struggling with student debt, grieving for her mother, and writing a novel. It is beautifully written and I enjoyed every page of it. Casey was an excellent character - even in her grief and panic attacks she persevered at her job and with her writing - and I enjoyed the passages about her dates with Silas and Oscar. I was afraid it would be one of those novels which ends abruptly with everything up in the air, but the ending was the best bit.Highly recommended.

[janismack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Casey is at a crossroads in her life and is trying her best to survive. Many events in the last year has upended her world and now she must deal with it. The writers brings you right into to Casey’s world, you feel like Casey sometimes. The author keeps you engaged throughout the whole story.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

8% in. Too American. Tries too hard to be interesting and international

[shazjhb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. The characters are well defined and true to who they are. Loved that it was set in the late 90’s with so much less technology

[rosalita_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like this one nearly as much as I wanted to. Perhaps my tolerance for characters with chaotic lives has dwindled. The ending also felt as though it was in a rush to wrap everything up with a neat, tidy "happily ever after" bow. Meh.

[sriddell_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Casey Peabody is writing a novel, supporting herself with a stressful and thankless waitressing job.

Things go from bad to worse to pure despair for Casey, but oddly the book remained cheerful throughout. I had the feeling that she would come out OK in the end regardless of what happened in her various relationships, job situations or most importantly, whether her novel would ever be finished.

Very introspective and emotional book.