Lily King’s Writers & Lovers is an extraordinary novel. As a writer I appreciated King’s efforts at capturing the life of a writer; they seem genuine as she describes the difficulty of putting words on a page in a meaningful way. This is King’s fifth novel and good enough that I’ll backtrack and read all her prior works.
Her protagonist, Casey Peabody, is fascinating. She’s processing the sudden death of her mother with whom she’s relatively recently reconciled as well as living with the knowledge that her father was a complete ass. She’s been in a series of disastrous failed relationships and has fears of never being loved. To support herself, however poorly, while working on her novel (going on six years now) she works as a waitress in an upscale restaurant. She’s overwhelmed by student loan debt, medical problems, and relationship problems. She endures sexism both in the restaurant and in the writing world. Her hopes, fears, missteps, and triumphs are emotionally compelling.
King’s beautifully documents every aspect of Casey’s character. Casey’s insights into the world of writing are fascinating and often humorous—and, I feel, at least somewhat autobiographical. I enjoyed reading her thoughts about books, literary criticism, and teaching high school literature. The prose linguistically sophisticated, but clean and uncluttered.
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