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Writers & Lovers
by
Casey has ended up back in Massachusetts after a devastating love affair. Her mother has just died and she is knocked sideways by grief and loneliness, moving between the restaurant where she waitresses for the Harvard elite and the rented shed she calls home. Her one constant is the novel she has been writing for six years, but at thirty-one she is in debt and directionle
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Kindle Edition, 245 pages
Published
March 5th 2020
by Picador
(first published March 3rd 2020)
Win a Copy of This Book
Writers & Lovers
by
Release
date: Feb 16, 2021
Now in paperback, WRITERS & LOVERS is “a funny novel about grief, and, worse, it’s dangerously romantic” (Washington Post).
Format: Print book
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Availability: 20 copies available, 12679 people requesting
Giveaway dates: Feb 25 - Mar 09, 2021
Countries available: U.S.
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Wow! Wow! That’s two “Wows, readers stand up and take notice. I can say with great confidence that I have found my favorite book of 2020. And that’s saying something.
First a little editorial comment; the story is based on the trials and tribulations of a writer, a topic to which I can easily relate. Smooth, elegant prose I loved it. Thrillers and mysteries have much steeper story arcs that help hold the reader in the fictive dream. The arc in this book is all but nonexistent. The evolution of t ...more
First a little editorial comment; the story is based on the trials and tribulations of a writer, a topic to which I can easily relate. Smooth, elegant prose I loved it. Thrillers and mysteries have much steeper story arcs that help hold the reader in the fictive dream. The arc in this book is all but nonexistent. The evolution of t ...more
Mar 05, 2020
Ron Charles
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
novels-about-art,
romantic-comedies
Please don’t do this. Don’t write a novel about trying to write a novel. It’s cliche and insular and lazy. Just don’t do it.
Unless it’s this novel — this wonderful, witty, heartfelt novel by Lily King called “Writers & Lovers.”
“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. According to the penal code of literary fiction, that’s a violation of Section 364, Prohibiting Unla ...more
Unless it’s this novel — this wonderful, witty, heartfelt novel by Lily King called “Writers & Lovers.”
“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. According to the penal code of literary fiction, that’s a violation of Section 364, Prohibiting Unla ...more
May 01, 2020
Angela M
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2020-favorites,
edelweiss-reviews
This is an introspective, intimate story of a woman coming into her own, a struggling writer, struggling to figure out her life. We meet Casey Peabody in 1997 in Cambridge, MA. She’s a mess, grieving the loss of her mother, burdened financially with over $70,000 in student loans and other debt, working as a waitress and living in a rented, mold smelling shed. She’s been struggling for six years to write a novel. Her romantic life is unsteady, reeling from a breakup and now unsure of which of the
...more
Jul 07, 2020
JanB
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to JanB by:
Susie | Novel Visits
Shelves:
fiction,
2020-reads
What a joy to immerse myself into such beautiful writing and storytelling. Casey is 31, a struggling writer who is working as a waitress and saddled with crushing debt. To complicate matters further, she’s dealing with debilitating grief at her mother’s untimely death and estranged from her father.
As Casey struggles to simply survive and complete her novel she dates two very different men, unsure which one is for her (if either). She deals with some medical issues while worrying about insurance ...more
As Casey struggles to simply survive and complete her novel she dates two very different men, unsure which one is for her (if either). She deals with some medical issues while worrying about insurance ...more
Boston University Bridge, connecting Boston to Cambridge, referred to as the BU Bridge, is mentioned many times throughout “Writers & Lovers”.
Casey Kasem, rides her banana seat bike over the BU bridge to and from work. Each time Casey crosses the bridge — it feels like a monumental moment —symbolic—
a life in transition….a new start….hope for connection and stability.
As she pedaled across the BU Bridge, often at dusk, I got the feeling it was where Casey measured her healing, her strength…takin ...more
Casey Kasem, rides her banana seat bike over the BU bridge to and from work. Each time Casey crosses the bridge — it feels like a monumental moment —symbolic—
a life in transition….a new start….hope for connection and stability.
As she pedaled across the BU Bridge, often at dusk, I got the feeling it was where Casey measured her healing, her strength…takin ...more
3.5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this one, some parts of this book were so beautiful and stunning it nearly brought me to tears, and other parts of this book were so boring and slow it nearly brought me to tears. I loved the discussion about grief and how it doesn't matter how old you are, losing your Mother will always be terrible and awful and life will not be the same after. I feel like this book was hard to read because it's so depressing, but I could relate to a lot of the things this ...more
I have mixed feelings about this one, some parts of this book were so beautiful and stunning it nearly brought me to tears, and other parts of this book were so boring and slow it nearly brought me to tears. I loved the discussion about grief and how it doesn't matter how old you are, losing your Mother will always be terrible and awful and life will not be the same after. I feel like this book was hard to read because it's so depressing, but I could relate to a lot of the things this ...more
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Wow. I am kind of shocked by how much I loved this. WRITERS & LOVERS is the first book I've read that truly captures what it's like to be a woman in your late-twenties/early-thirties and not have your life figured out. When all your friends are in serious relationships or married, with real desk jobs and houses of their own, and you're still working a dead-end job and chasing the dream, while serial-dating like you're still in college, i ...more
Oct 28, 2020
Dolors
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those in love with words
Recommended to Dolors by:
The stars
Even if time is scarce to read these days, I could have finished this book in two days.
But I didn’t want to. I made it last, oh yes, I made it last as much as I could because I didn’t want it to end.
I went back to highlighted paragraphs and reread whole sections, savoring the quality of King’s writing, the familiar echo of her protagonist’s voice, the fear and angst reverberating underneath the humorous tone of her thoughts. It all sounded so true, so valid, so spot-on.
Novels like this one are r ...more
But I didn’t want to. I made it last, oh yes, I made it last as much as I could because I didn’t want it to end.
I went back to highlighted paragraphs and reread whole sections, savoring the quality of King’s writing, the familiar echo of her protagonist’s voice, the fear and angst reverberating underneath the humorous tone of her thoughts. It all sounded so true, so valid, so spot-on.
Novels like this one are r ...more
Casey Peabody, 31 years old, and working as a waitress in Cambridge, has a very full plate. Her writing aspirations seem to be coming to nothing. She is up to her eyeballs in debt with student loans, newly dumped by her boyfriend, and her mother has died unexpectedly. More than plenty to handle, but destiny isn't finished with her quite yet.
I could have made a meal off the delicious scenes with Casey working in the restaurant, her interaction with the clientele and with her co-workers. The ...more
I could have made a meal off the delicious scenes with Casey working in the restaurant, her interaction with the clientele and with her co-workers. The ...more
3.5 stars. I found this to be an uneven novel. Lily King won a bunch of awards for her book Euphoria, which I downloaded a long time ago but never read. Now I’m not sure that I want to read it. Other people have rated the writing of this novel as wonderful, but I’m not impressed except with how she described one of the men wooing her—he’s a successful writer/widower/father of two who, like so many people, can only see what he doesn’t have and what he hasn’t achieved as he compares himself to oth
...more
Was deciding between a 4/5 or a 5/5 and then I hit the END and it is absolutely a 5/5 for me!!
3.75 rounded up to 4
I was immediately drawn into this book by the intense sorrow of the main character, Casey Peabody. I confess I have a thing for melancholy in storytelling. My favorite movie is "Terms of Endearment" because I love when my heartstrings are pulled. As the book begins we get a strong sense of sadness in Casey. She is living in a garden shed, all that she can afford due to the crushing college loan debt she is only paying minimums on. She has been trying to finish writing a novel ...more
I was immediately drawn into this book by the intense sorrow of the main character, Casey Peabody. I confess I have a thing for melancholy in storytelling. My favorite movie is "Terms of Endearment" because I love when my heartstrings are pulled. As the book begins we get a strong sense of sadness in Casey. She is living in a garden shed, all that she can afford due to the crushing college loan debt she is only paying minimums on. She has been trying to finish writing a novel ...more
“Writers aren’t thrusters.”
King has a way with words and her stories always are real-Real characters that you can empathize with.
I adored Euphoria and the spell she cast then. She cast another one with the character of Casey. The reality of struggling as a writer; coping with a parent’s death; debt; relationship challenges.and the downward spiral that can happen when one becomes overwhelmed with things that just don’t seem to be going right.
It just rang true in so many ways.
“I know you are dru ...more
King has a way with words and her stories always are real-Real characters that you can empathize with.
I adored Euphoria and the spell she cast then. She cast another one with the character of Casey. The reality of struggling as a writer; coping with a parent’s death; debt; relationship challenges.and the downward spiral that can happen when one becomes overwhelmed with things that just don’t seem to be going right.
It just rang true in so many ways.
“I know you are dru ...more
The below review originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
On the shortlist of things one should never, ever say to a writer, “I just find it extraordinary that you think you have something to say,” would rank in the top three. Yet these words are carelessly hurled at the hopeful novelist Casey Peabody by her pompous Boston landlord early on in Lily King’s new novel, the aptly titled “Writers & Lovers.” Highly anticipated following her celebrated 2014 work, “Euphoria,” Lily King’s new b ...more
On the shortlist of things one should never, ever say to a writer, “I just find it extraordinary that you think you have something to say,” would rank in the top three. Yet these words are carelessly hurled at the hopeful novelist Casey Peabody by her pompous Boston landlord early on in Lily King’s new novel, the aptly titled “Writers & Lovers.” Highly anticipated following her celebrated 2014 work, “Euphoria,” Lily King’s new b ...more
I loved this elegant coming-of-age story about a 31-year-old woman trying to find her place, not only among writers and lovers, but also within herself, after the death of her mother.
Casey is smart, funny, unassuming, and a little lost. She doesn’t have much stability in her life, but she’s not without the support of good people. She tells us this story herself, mostly in the present tense. Her struggles are our struggles, the stuff of life, told with beauty and humor in her specifics.
This book ...more
Casey is smart, funny, unassuming, and a little lost. She doesn’t have much stability in her life, but she’s not without the support of good people. She tells us this story herself, mostly in the present tense. Her struggles are our struggles, the stuff of life, told with beauty and humor in her specifics.
This book ...more
Well this is going to be a DNF... Unfortunately I could not get into this writing at all. Too dry and slow moving. I made it to 30% but I can do no more 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ Just not my kind of book.
“I just find it extraordinary that you think you have something to say.”
These words are spoken by our protagonist’s landlord after Casey, our protagonist, tells him she is writing a novel.
Just the words a first time novelist needs to hear. But he doesn’t bother Casey much. He is nothing compared to the grief and stress with which Casey is struggling. She meets these head on and with self-awareness, honesty and aplomb. As the stressors build she becomes very anxious but with the support of goo ...more
These words are spoken by our protagonist’s landlord after Casey, our protagonist, tells him she is writing a novel.
Just the words a first time novelist needs to hear. But he doesn’t bother Casey much. He is nothing compared to the grief and stress with which Casey is struggling. She meets these head on and with self-awareness, honesty and aplomb. As the stressors build she becomes very anxious but with the support of goo ...more
It’s 1997 in Boston in Writers & Lovers, where Casey is broke and waiting tables as she attempts to pay off her massive debt and pursue a writing career. Her apartment is questionable, her job is barely getting her by, and she’s reeling from both the death of her mother and a recent romance — It’s a lot for anyone to deal with, especially someone with a limited support network, though she does turn to her brother and her best friend when she can.
Add in a health scare, an arrogant landlord, and ...more
Add in a health scare, an arrogant landlord, and ...more
Review also published to Blog: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...
Just call it Love, Pure and Simple.
“Writers and Lovers” by Lily King is the story of Casey Peabody, a 31-year-old woman who knows pain and defeat and knows it well. A waitress and a struggling writer, Casey recently lost her mother and is $73,000 in debt due to exorbitant college loans that have taken over her life. Working two jobs just to pay the minimum, Casey merely exists.
When she begins dating two very different men, c ...more
Just call it Love, Pure and Simple.
“Writers and Lovers” by Lily King is the story of Casey Peabody, a 31-year-old woman who knows pain and defeat and knows it well. A waitress and a struggling writer, Casey recently lost her mother and is $73,000 in debt due to exorbitant college loans that have taken over her life. Working two jobs just to pay the minimum, Casey merely exists.
When she begins dating two very different men, c ...more
"I don't write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don't, everything feels even worse."
Casey, a going to be debut writer, finds her life at stake with a mixture of faith to keep, debts to pay, housing to secure, healthcare to obtain, sandwiched in between a love triangle and panic attack. Writers & Lovers spill out on a real-world that is fierce and a fight to win for. Just like any fresh graduates, Casey embarks on a journey to fulfill a life of her own, almost breaki ...more
Casey, a going to be debut writer, finds her life at stake with a mixture of faith to keep, debts to pay, housing to secure, healthcare to obtain, sandwiched in between a love triangle and panic attack. Writers & Lovers spill out on a real-world that is fierce and a fight to win for. Just like any fresh graduates, Casey embarks on a journey to fulfill a life of her own, almost breaki ...more
This book was a struggle for me from the earliest pages.
I just found this book to be too much. And I’m not sure why. The first half of the book was a slog for me to read. I found the plot to be very slow moving and the prose to be stilted. I toyed with the idea of DNFing but I’ve never done that with a NetGalley ARC before and couldn’t quite bring myself to stop as I was hoping I would enjoy the book once more of the plot was revealed.
And admittedly around 1/2 the way through I found I had got ...more
I just found this book to be too much. And I’m not sure why. The first half of the book was a slog for me to read. I found the plot to be very slow moving and the prose to be stilted. I toyed with the idea of DNFing but I’ve never done that with a NetGalley ARC before and couldn’t quite bring myself to stop as I was hoping I would enjoy the book once more of the plot was revealed.
And admittedly around 1/2 the way through I found I had got ...more
Lily King is one of the most astute observers we have of that strange intersection of grief and desire, and one of the smartest writers I read. I loved this novel and I loved her heroine, Casey Peabody, and felt precisely her pangs of despair and her moments of transcendence, and was rooting for her page after beautiful page.
Casey-Camila.
In this one a girl had to pretend she's a blue giraffe. A fearless one. Now I've seen everything.
Casey's mom is dead. Casey's dead is a jerk (quite literally). And Casey is struggling: with health, money and life generally.
She does lots of self-sabotage but there's one thing she does that settles here apart from other wannabe writers: she actually writes. Regularly. For several hours a day.
She's a polyglot. Has some sort of aversion of office work.
She does some clenching and uncle ...more
In this one a girl had to pretend she's a blue giraffe. A fearless one. Now I've seen everything.
Casey's mom is dead. Casey's dead is a jerk (quite literally). And Casey is struggling: with health, money and life generally.
She does lots of self-sabotage but there's one thing she does that settles here apart from other wannabe writers: she actually writes. Regularly. For several hours a day.
She's a polyglot. Has some sort of aversion of office work.
She does some clenching and uncle ...more
I'm so, so torn. On the one hand I think it's a very accurate capture of various versions of what it looks like to make writing your life (not easy, not pretty), several depictions of grief, multiple characters struggling with relationships, but overall the reading experience is fairly mundane if I'm being honest. On the one hand, we want books that accurately capture life, don't we? Or maybe it needs to be more than that to lift me out of my own life? I am struggling. I so loved her last book.
T ...more
T ...more
A tight, riveting and intimate drama of a woman struggling with the debt, love and the death of her mother.
SUMMARY
Casey Peabody gets up early every morning to work on her novel, while trying not to think about her huge college loan debt, love, or her mother’s death while vacationing in Chile last winter. Casey lives in Boston in an old potting shed that smells of mold and decaying leaves. She get a discount on her rent by walking her landlord’s dog. She’s thirty-one and rides an old banana bike ...more
SUMMARY
Casey Peabody gets up early every morning to work on her novel, while trying not to think about her huge college loan debt, love, or her mother’s death while vacationing in Chile last winter. Casey lives in Boston in an old potting shed that smells of mold and decaying leaves. She get a discount on her rent by walking her landlord’s dog. She’s thirty-one and rides an old banana bike ...more
There is currently a goodreads giveaway for this book.
I normally do not read a ton of Literary Fiction books, but I really wanted to read this book. I am not sure if it was everyone else's reviews of the book or the cover. I have to say I am really glad I did want to read this book because I really like it. The book Writers & Lovers follows Casey Peabody getting over her Mother's death, finding love, getting through health issues, starting a new job, and writing a book. If you have been thinkin ...more
I normally do not read a ton of Literary Fiction books, but I really wanted to read this book. I am not sure if it was everyone else's reviews of the book or the cover. I have to say I am really glad I did want to read this book because I really like it. The book Writers & Lovers follows Casey Peabody getting over her Mother's death, finding love, getting through health issues, starting a new job, and writing a book. If you have been thinkin ...more
3.8, rounded up
I want euphoria!!
And I don’t have it. King’s earlier book, Euphoria, made me haul out my pogo stick, but this one is pedestrian and had me walking briskly instead. Wait, I don’t mean it’s mediocre—it’s definitely a notch above that because King’s writing is so good. It’s a matter of plot. Euphoria was special because it was set in the jungle, with lots of adventure thrown in among the good sentences.
Writers and Lovers has no exotic setting or plot. It’s about a woman in her early ...more
I want euphoria!!
And I don’t have it. King’s earlier book, Euphoria, made me haul out my pogo stick, but this one is pedestrian and had me walking briskly instead. Wait, I don’t mean it’s mediocre—it’s definitely a notch above that because King’s writing is so good. It’s a matter of plot. Euphoria was special because it was set in the jungle, with lots of adventure thrown in among the good sentences.
Writers and Lovers has no exotic setting or plot. It’s about a woman in her early ...more
Beautifully written and perceptive, this is a compelling portrayal of a young woman finding her footing in a world that has dealt her a few blows. I loved her pluck and determination to follow her dreams, but it is passages like this that made me pause and reflect…
I think about how you get trained early on as a woman to perceive how others are perceiving you, at the great expense of what you yourself are feeling about them. Sometimes you mix the two up in a terrible tangle that’s hard to unravel ...more
I think about how you get trained early on as a woman to perceive how others are perceiving you, at the great expense of what you yourself are feeling about them. Sometimes you mix the two up in a terrible tangle that’s hard to unravel ...more
[3.9] Casey is mourning her mother's recent death and is stuck. She is having trouble with her writing, her restaurant job and the two men in her life. There is not a lot that happens in the first half of the novel and when things start changing, it is fairly predictable. No matter - I really enjoyed this novel! I like King's writing and the way she encapsulates a young woman on the cusp of change.
My ARC was discovered at the Strand Book Store in NYC. ...more
My ARC was discovered at the Strand Book Store in NYC. ...more
You don’t realize how much effort you put into covering things up until you try to dig them out.
A beautifully written, relatable story that feels based in truth, this is exactly what I needed to read right now. Probably not for everyone, but definitely for me.
4.5 stars
A beautifully written, relatable story that feels based in truth, this is exactly what I needed to read right now. Probably not for everyone, but definitely for me.
4.5 stars
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction Fanatics: February 2021 - Writers and Lovers | 8 | 15 | Feb 24, 2021 05:03PM | |
| Burbank Book Club: March Read | 1 | 11 | Feb 20, 2021 03:08PM | |
| Cannonball Readers: What book have you recommended that you couldn't describe? | 4 | 9 | Jan 16, 2021 10:23AM | |
| Book of The Month: **Spoiler Discussion** Writers and Lovers | 6 | 138 | Oct 10, 2020 12:46PM | |
| Play Book Tag: Writers and Lovers -5 stars | 1 | 13 | Sep 26, 2020 07:55PM | |
| Mt. Lebanon Publi...: Writers and Lovers by Lily King | 1 | 11 | Jun 04, 2020 05:32PM |
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 new novel, Euphoria, was released in June 2014. It has drawn significant acclaim so far, bei
...more
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“It’s a particular kind of pleasure, of intimacy, loving a book with someone.”
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“I squat there and think about how you get trained early on as a woman to perceive how others are perceiving you, at the great expense of what you yourself are feeling about them. Sometimes you mix the two up in a terrible tangle that’s hard to unravel.”
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