A great read!
Casey has been writing a novel for years but not getting very far.
She is mourning the death of her mother and the end of a passionate love affair whilst working in a restaurant and living in a rented shed.
This is a brilliant story. Casey is really believable and likeable so I found myself rooting for her from the start.
It could be viewed as a coming of age story although admittedly Casey is 31!
I would definitely recommend it. An excellent read.

I enjoyed this book so much that I actually sought out her other books! Honestly just a really engaging, pleasant story. Nicely written, with a plot that was simple but smart.

"Nearly every guy I’ve dated believed they should already be famous, believed that greatness was their destiny and they were already behind schedule. Now I understand it’s how boys are raised to think, how they are lured into adulthood. I’ve met ambitious women, driven women, but no woman has ever told me that greatness was her destiny."

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. It reminded me of Anne Tyler and Tessa Hadley. The plot seems simple, but I think it successfully achieves something that is actually quite hard: showing a slice of a very particular life, the day-to-day of it.

The blurb of the book both intrigued and alarmed me: a young woman who wants to become a writer. It feels significant that this is the author’s fifth novel - I don’t think this is the kind of plot a debut writer would be good at.

The main character is thirty-one-year-old Casey, who is working as a waitress. She used to be a golf prodigy but isn’t anymore (at one point, she jokes about the song “Casey Jones,” about the baseball player who struck out when it mattered most). She gets involved in a love triangle with a famous writer and a deadbeat eccentric (who I wasn’t really into, but whatever). She has health problems. And she is severely in debt from her creative writing graduate degree.

The novel’s attitude towards money (namely, the severe lack of it) and her day-to-day work at the restaurant was something I really appreciated. I really love depictions of ‘everyday,’ routine life. Overall, there are several narrative trajectories in the book. One is her romantic life, which takes a while to get going. Another is her grief for her dead mother. And the third is her ambition, her drive to be a writer.

As expected, I liked the ‘writing’ narrative trajectory the most. It’s captured well - the drafting, the fear - despite my early reservations that I would find them annoying. But it’s all there, with both affection and bitchiness: the culitsh weekly writing workshops where everyone feels anxious about being the ‘best’, attending readings for hardback books you can’t afford, the dread of wasting your life, the way some so-called friends don’t really want you to be successful. I REALLY liked the scene with the writing retreat staff, who don’t let her reschedule her stay at the fancy-schmancy East Coast barn, even though her mother’s just died. Fuck those people, man!

Casey’s focus on writing - her stubbornness, her kernel of ambition, her love of literature (especially the character of Quentin Compson, and Thomas Bernhard) - are very well captured. It’s hard not to find her sympathetic - someone who just plain loves books, and literature. I also really enjoyed her friendship with Muriel, her supportive and kind friend. Thank GOD for a non-toxic female friendship depicted in fiction! The book is also often genuinely funny in a Lorrie Moore-quip way (again, something that I think is VERY hard to achieve).

My main critique of the book is that the ending was way too happy. But hey, what can you do? I felt happy for the character despite my icy cold heart - she deserved it. Ultimately, book is mature and sophisticated and really quite impressive. The way it takes a young woman seriously - her goals and her life - is sadly not something I've seen enough. Overall, I would recommend this if you’re looking for a feel-good read, or if you're interested in reading a 'portrait of the artists as a young woman.'

Thanks to Picador/Pan Macmillan for the ARC via NetGalley.

This book was ok. I really wanted it to be better but, it simply failed to grab my interest. It's certainly a slow burn and written with a real craft that I hoped would build to something spectacular.

I found the style to be too slow and really expected the pace to quicken, once I got more into the book. Sadly, it didn't happen, in my view

I hadn't read Lily King before but, I'd heard good and positive things. I am, therefore, not put off and will seek out her other books but, this one was not for me.

This story is set in 1997 and follows 31 year old Casey Peabody, a waitress and a former child golf prodigy who wants nothing more than to be writer. She rents a tiny room where she spends her time writing her debut novel. Casey is still grieving her mother’s sudden death and feels like everyone around her is moving on with their lives while she still craves the creative life.

As she goes about her daily life she meets two completely different types of men who she is attracted to, Oscar and Silas. Oscar is an established writer in his forties with two young boys who wants to be with Casey all the time. Silas is around the same age as Casey and wants to become a writer too but they seem to have an on and off kind of relationship throughout the book. You start to wonder who it is that she really likes or not.

Also with all of this happening in her life, she has health problems she has to contend with, a lot of student debt and people at her job that are making life difficult. How will she cope?

This book was definitely a slow burner for me. There were parts I felt my concentration fading and I had to keep rereading the same paragraph over and over again. Then there were parts of the book as it progressed I really engaged with and it stole my attention.

I do want to make clear that this is a very raw read. Some of the topics that come up were very emotional and Lily King captures Casey’s emotions brilliantly. I also really liked how the story was all about Casey’s passion to be a writer and how her friends were so supportive of her. She was also a great, likeable character. The scenes of her with Oscar’s children really made my heart melt. They were so beautifully written and it felt so real.

I can see how a lot of people in their late twenties to early/mid thirties would relate to this book. It is that age where some people are at a bit of a crossroads in their life or feel like everyone around them seems to be getting married and having kids while they feel like they are just plodding along. This story also reminded me so much of Sally Rooney’s style of writing so if you are a fan of hers this will definitely be your cup of tea.

However, I just felt a bit deflated at the end and I still have such mixed feelings about it. I think part of my problem with it is when I think back, not a lot really happened! But it was a great emotional journey for Casey which the author definitely managed to succeed in showing the reader. It is also one of those books that has had quite a bit of hype around it so maybe I was just expecting a lot more from it.

Thank you to the publisher Pan Macmillan and also to Netgalley for sending me a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Casey Peabody, wrecked by her mother's sudden death and a doomed love affair, arrives in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 with nothing to her name except a lot of baggage and a novel she has been working on for years. She's determined not to give up on her creative dream, unlike the creative people she used to be friends with who have moved on to stable jobs and stable lives.

I found this to be a very unevenly written book. There were flashes of brilliance, some excellent prose, but also a lot of excruciatingly boring passages. I found myself incredibly annoyed with most of the characters at times. But this book captures that feeling of being in your late twenties or early thirties and seeing all your peers move past you while you're still struggling to figure out what you want to do with your life. That feeling of still not managing to be a functional adult even though everyone else makes it look so easy, so clearly it's you who is the problem. I've never encountered a novel that captured those feelings so well.

This is a very compelling book with a very well-executed storyline, and characters. I really rooted for them and loved reading about them.
It's a bit slow, that's the only flaw. Other than that, I loved King's writing.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

The reviews for this book have been gushing and I wondered whether I should believe the hype - but it really is that good. I got lost in it and read it in three great big gulps. What a writer!

Writers & Lovers has been doing the rounds on my Twitter feed, the beautiful book cover reeling me in and I was so glad when I came across it here on Netgalley. I thoroughly enjoy character driven stories, so you can imagine how much I enjoyed living through Casey's journey. This intimate tale of a young woman dealing with her grief was heart breaking and yet, wonderfully funny at the same time, something about her reminded me of a close friend so it really resonated strongly. I felt myself get lost in this book, drowning in Casey's sorrow alongside her, and rooting for her happiness when romance came into play. The book's realism is what I feel sets it apart from other novels which deal with the character's struggles of being a writer, alongside something as intense a feeling as grief, all whilst trying to grasp onto life and navigate the every day stuff. Both shining bright and gloomily dark, Casey's story is one that deserves to be read.

A wonderful read that I got through in one sitting! I'll no doubt end up going through Lily King's backlist now and keeping an eye out on what she's doing next...

This is a contemporary novel set in the Boston/Cambridge area of Massachusetts in 1997.
We are in the head of protagonist Casey Peabody, who at the beginning of the book, is an aspiring writer, reeling from the emotions of a recent love affair and grappling with the grief of her mother suddenly passing away.
The novel is about so many different aspects of Casey’s life and emotions, but ultimately it is a snapshot of this moment in her existence and we are taken along for the ride.

When we first meet Casey she is talking about her mother’s sudden and unexpected passing while on a trip in Chile. This event brings up a cocktail of emotions within Casey, where she is replaying the last moments she had with her mother, and thinking back to her childhood and the relationship they had together. Her death brings back the feelings of abandonment that Casey felt many years ago.

Casey is also coming off the back of a rollercoaster love affair with someone she met at a writing camp, and we see her trying to get over this while beginning to form relationships with other men. There are two love interests in the novel. However, King does such an effortless job of making this not your typical love triangle, but instead making the character dynamics seem realistic and creating situations that are relatable and normal to result in Casey having power and independence in her decision making and owning her feelings. These two men represent different things that Casey needs and wants in her life and through getting to know them she is getting to understand herself and explore her own desires.

This is a book set in the book world about writing, which is a trope that can be done very badly. In this case, Lily King does it beautifully. She talks about books and words and writing in such a passionate and engaging way, through Casey, that I was hanging on her every word. Casey is writing a novel and has been for the last six years. We get scenes where she is talking about reading and writing, which is done in a way that celebrates the act and demonstrates that not everyone will get the same thing out of a piece of writing and that is ok.

In amongst all of this is the discussion of Casey’s mental health. Throughout the novel Casey describes her feelings and her reactions in a way that doesn’t romanticise or draw attention to them, but it becomes clear that she suffers from anxiety. Casey finds ways to cope with this herself as well as with her group of supportive, emotionally intelligent and inspiring friends.

Lastly, I just loved Lily King’s ability to write a scene. Every location in the book and every interaction felt so visceral and cinematic and played out like a movie in my mind. We were following Casey’s journey here but I felt like each one of the characters could have had a novel of their own.

There is so many more elements to this book and so much more I loved. I already want to re-read this and I know I will get even more out of it on a second read. This has become a new favourite

Writers and Lovers feels very real. It’s a deep, thoughtful book with a flawed and fully realised protagonist. Having said that, Writers and Lovers is slow. In places it comes off as rather mundane, but that’s also what makes it real. With Writers and Lovers, King isn’t trying to depict life through any rose-tinted glasses, she’s simply observing how it is and showing that to us. Whether that makes a book good, or a trifle boring, it depends on reader’s taste. Personally, I was completely torn. It’s perfect for readers who like character-driven novels that are slow, but thoughtful and deep, but for me it fell somewhere in the middle.

My favourite aspect of this story, wasn’t the storyline, it is the writing. Lily King’s description of the main character, Casey, was beautiful. From describing her anxiety in a way that made it feel very real, to her excitement before her dates, to her determination of continuing to write the book she’s dedicated 6 years of her life to - the reader can feel it all. This is a story about someone who feels they’re life is not ‘enough’ as it doesn’t conform to the social norms we’re presented with. This is a very real issue in our instant/social media-filled culture, where we feel we need to keep up with others. Whether you’re older than you wanted to be when you have a child, you’re in a job working hard to achieve a goal that seems to be taking ages, to being single when you’re ‘meant’ to be in a relationship - your life is valid, your dreams are valid...keep going

Writers and Lovers by Lily King
8/10
Grief, love and self-belief.

A writer writes a book about a writer writing a book... and gets it so RIGHT (see what I did there 😆). Writers and Lovers tells the tale of 31 year old Casey and we meet her in 1997. She is grieving the recent unexpected death of her mother, falling for two very different men at the same time and trying to finish the novel she's been working on for the past 6 years. Her job as a waitress hangs perilously in the balance along with the renting of the potting shed in her brothers' friends back garden she calls her home. Life has not gone to plan.

Although this sounds like a rather depressing setting/premise for a book I can promise you Lily has worked wonders here with a character that you instantly warm to and root for. Casey has much she could sit and wallow about and although this does happen at various points in the book it always feels right and never overplayed. I genuinely cared about Casey and analysed her decisions like I would a dear friend. And as I watched her journey I was there in the ups and downs- cheering on the highs and wanting to embrace her in the hugest of hugs during the lows.

It's a book about writing a book... but not really... really it's about love in all its many forms and- the most important one- loving yourself.

Unfortunately I couldn’t read this book! I assume (due to a couple of other reviews I’ve seen) that it was formatting issues because the text just didn’t make sense. It was so choppy and disjointed, it gave me a headache trying to figure out what was going on just on the first 2 pages. I’m disappointed because I was looking forward to it but it can’t be helped I suppose.

Like some other readers I was unable to read past page 2 of this book as it made no sense whatsoever due to formatting issues.

I tried on both the Kindle App on my ipad and also on my Kindle device and the issue was the same.

There's nowhere to attach a link but here's a bit of an extract:

He's
still leaning against his car and turning only his
head in my
direction, as if he likes his pose too much to undo it.
1
1
lily king
the long quilted seat and the tall bar in back I lean
against
'It's all right.' The bees in my chest stir. A few creep
while coasting. I didn't have one as a kid, but my
best friend
down the inside of my arm. One conversation can
destroy my did and we used to swap bikes for days at
time. These BU
whole morning.

This story caught me by surprise but I loved it. Casey is a very relatable character. She's grieving the loss of her mother whilst trying to pay her rent, write a novel and decide between two guys who are both hot and cold. There are lots of lovely scenes in this novel that were brought to life so well, I could picture them on a silver screen. This is one of those books that you can dip in and out of but also devour in one sitting.

Even though I'm young, I feel like I'm getting old really fast. Set in the city I visited so often, I really took a shine to this book and its main character. Casey was tough but soft, sharp though grieving, really likable.

Honestly I think this is my new favourite book of all time. I'm a sucker for books where I can relate to the protagonist and Casey is basically me (except I'm not a good writer!).

Casey is 31, newly single, mourning her mother and just generally stuck in a rut. She's desperate to finish her first novel but in the meantime is working as a waitress in a restaurant and living in a tiny, mouldy room next to a garage. We follow her as she copes with career stresses, health issues and a difficult relationship with her father and his new partner. The writing was exquisite and I couldn't put this book down. It's just what I needed during these difficult times. I'm off to collect Lily King's back catalogue!

I loved Writers & Lovers. I don't usually go for character-driven stories, but it was impossible not to fall in love with (and relate to) Casey, the thirty-one-year-old writer who refuses to give up on her dream while waiting tables in Harvard Square.⁠
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There could've been no better time in my life to read this book - even though Casey is a few years older than me, I could see a lot of myself in her as she struggled to make ends meet and build a life for herself as a creative. The heartbreak after failure and rejection, the determination to keep pushing through, the loneliness that comes with feeling lost and wondering if what we're doing is worth it - all of this was present and beautifully written in Writers & Lovers.⁠ The author also explores themes like grief and complicated romantic/family relationships, both very much present in Casey's life.⁠
⁠
By the end, I knew Casey so well I couldn't help but cheer when she succeeded, and be sad when things went wrong. I think there were a few loose ends that could've been tied at some point, but overall, it was a lovely read.⁠

I must admit that I found this story a bit of a struggle. Maybe it's just not the right time for me to read it in a world that seems uncertain and worrying every day as my own post-student life looks increasingly bleak. I must point out though that I am not someone who only reads upbeat books and I loved Elizabeth Strout, one of the reasons I wanted to read this, as apparently comparisons have been made between the two, but this just left me cold.
Anyway whatever the reason, I found this story of Casey, a 31 year old struggling writer, who is sinking below her student debts and grieving the loss of her mother rather a tough read. I also felt that some of Casey's references to Barthes, Proust and European literary classics to be a little hard to swallow.
Sorry but just not for me.