Lily King’s short stories are each perfectly crafted miniature worlds, this is a book not to be missed.

I’ve been struggling with a lot of short story collections recently but I felt like all of these were great short reads that felt developed enough in their small number of pages but could also be developed into longer pieces. I found that the stories had a feeling of times past but also very modern issues. I think my favourite story was “North Sea”, I loved the two women connected but so disconnected and the discussion of trauma. I’d love to read more of Lily King’s work, both short and long form.

Some of the stories were really good, but most I just could not get into. They felt uninteresting. I am not sure if short stories are for me. I think I prefer author’s novels.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for providing me with an ARC of this short story collection. This is a collection of stories that centre on characters across the spectrum of genders, ages and socioeconomic status but are united by a shared focus on heartache, longing and loss. The experience of reading this collection feels oddly nostalgic, with almost all of the stories feeling as if you're looking back on a different time through the forgiving haze of memory. The stand-out stories for me were definitely the eponymous Five Tuesdays in Winter, in which a gruff bookstore owner slowly falls in love with his employee and works up the courage to make his move, and North Sea, in which a recently widowed woman takes her daughter on holiday for the first time since her husband's passing. Although both stories seem very different, they both have a strong, hopeful undercurrent running through them as the protagonists begin to move forward from their past disappointments and losses. This is an uplifting, beautifully written collection and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a serotonin boost that will still challenge them.

I will buy this book to finish later, as I did not manage to finish this in time - but I absolutely love Lily King and I will recommend her books always.

I always expect short stories to leave behind more of a mark than a full length novel. Perhaps because they are sheared clean of all excess, their message is bare-knuckled rather than gloved. With that in mind, Five Tuesdays in Winter is an exceptional example of the genre since I was left thinking about almost every single chapter. Considering love, loss and the transience of life, Lily King wanders through a whole spectrum of human emotion leaving the reader spellbound in her wake.

A teenaged girl employed as a babysitter for a summer imagines herself in Jane Eyre only to have a cruel awakening. A bookseller falls quietly in love with an employee. A fourteen year-old boy finds himself unexpectedly nurtured by two friendly college students. A proud nonagenarian rails at his granddaughter's hospital bed. And a gay man tries unsuccessfully to reconnect with an old college friend. Several reviews have made contrasts between Five Tuesdays and King's longer fiction but this was my first experience of her work. The early stories lulled me into a false sense of security, that this might be a collection about comings of age, of reaching a new maturity of contentment. But as the anthology progressed, things became more unpredictable and 'The Man at the Door' contained a final surprise.

Of all the book, 'When in the Dordogne' was my favourite, the tale of the boy being babysat by two strangers from the local college. Told in retrospect from middle age, the narrator recognises things that he did not see at the time. He sees both his own social and financial privilege and that one of his kindly mentors was in fact in love with the other. He has been neglected by his distracted parents and ignored by his much older siblings but here he finally finds people who truly care about him. The college students actually take notice of him and even nudge him towards the girl upon whom he has a crush. As the summer draws to its conclusion, there is a real sweetness to the narrator's final revelations of what was lost but what remained.

My initial impression was that Five Tuesdays was a meditation on longing. Certainly these are recurring themes across 'Creature', the titular 'Five Tuesdays in Winter', 'When in the Dordogne' and even 'Hotel Seattle'. But then other stories such as 'North Sea' and 'Waiting for Charlie' failed to quite fit the theme. Of course, most of the stories have already appeared in magazines so it is possible that King was simply gathering together her material for group release. But I think perhaps she was focused instead on intimacy in all its forms. Each of the characters seems to consider someone to whom they are close from the outside and each reaches fresh understanding, both for good and for ill.

There is a tenderness to King's writing that makes me want to seek out her work once more. Each of her characters emerge fully-realised even in these fleeting encounters. And I particularly enjoy how 'The Man at the Door' is a knowing wink from writer to reader, cheerfully dismissing our opinion. Feeling honest and real, King has a keen eye for human nature at both its most beautiful and its most unsettling. This is a book that left goosebumps.

Five Tuesdays in winter is a collection of short stories all love as the theme running through. I really enjoyed the characters in each of the stories; each has their own take on love, from first love to unspoken love.
Although short this collection of stories had beautifully written characters which drew me in from the start. I will definitely now be looking more novels to read from her as I was gripped.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Truth to be told, this book wasn’t for me. I found it a bit challenging to finish it since the author went into too much detail for my liking, especially in short stories. This made the stories feel very slow paced. It took a lot of mental capacity to comprehend everyone's stories.
These anthologies are also dark, complex and filled with drama.
Each of the story also came to a sudden finish with an open ending that often had little to do with the premise.
All in all, I wasn’t a huge fan, but if you love short stories. I believe you’d enjoy this book a lot more!

I think the problem with short story collections is that you're always going to have the ones that you prefer over the other. The first two stories in this collection I absolutely loved and thought were so well written. The later ones however were kind of lost on me. I would still love to delve into Lily King's other works

This is a collection of short stories exploring a range of emotions and experiences, each with its own unique voice.

I enjoyed the writing as you feel yourself connecting with the characters. ‘North Sea’ was one story that I felt ended rather abruptly, there seemed to be so much more to explore but I suppose that also leaves something to the imagination.

‘Creature’ and ‘Five Tuesdays in Winter’ were the best stories in this collection for me simply because how they were told and what I thought of the characters and plot.

I’d recommend reading these stories for anyone wanting a quick read.

Five Tuesdays in Winter is a charming and poised short story collection with fascinating characters and 10 spectacular sharp tales. The way King presents the everyday and mundane in such a tender and remarkable way is what makes this collection so special. It’s insightful and so easily sweeps up the reader with an exploration of love, family, loss, and betrayal. The collection is uplifting and fascinating but also heart-breaking as it highlights the chaos of the human race.

I love messy relationships and tangled lives in books, and King provides plenty to dive into. I adore the way she examines the capabilities of the human heart and how it drives behaviours. The characters are compelling and complex, occasionally frustrating, but mostly entertaining. And while the direction of some narratives did surprise me, one thing I always appreciated was the way King linked each story back to love. Five Tuesdays in Winter is the kind of book that pushes the reader to reflect, and with King’s strong writing and compassionate tone, it’s incredibly easy to do.

All stories provided for an interesting read throughout. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a collection of short stories about the different kinds of relationships and little moments in people’s lives. There were unexpected turns and twists that kept me turning the pages long into the night

The stunning short story collection from the bestselling author of Writers & Lovers and Euphoria

A reclusive bookseller begins to feel the discomfort of love again. A widow whisks her daughter away for a holiday she can barely afford, desperate to help the two of them grieve. A neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students. A proud man rages helplessly at his granddaughter’s hospital bedside. A writer receives a visit from all of the men who have tried to suppress her voice.

This is a collection of short stories from different perspectives conveying tales of love, loss and growth. All of these centre around the narrator and their experience and interactions with other characters with a range of emotions such as love, hope, fear and anger. A consistent theme throughout is the impact people have on others and the way they shape them as an individual and their life; whether through a positive or in a terrible way. Death is also mentioned in a few of the stories and the vulnerability of life just like humans and their emotions which can affect and alter their reality.

I like how Lily King shows the importance of accepting who you are but also accepting what had happened, even in the hardest of the stories, that acceptance was cathartic and peaceful. Some of these short stories have a happy ending, some end on a more somber note but all have a very clear message about people and real life situations whether they’re showing the best in humanity or the worse. King presents these short stories in a concise way, building up the plot in a way to create mystery with the different paths the plot could take before the end.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A reclusive bookseller begins to feel the discomfort of love again. A widow whisks her daughter away for a holiday she can barely afford, desperate to help the two of them grieve. A neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students. A proud man rages helplessly at his granddaughter’s hospital bedside. A writer receives a visit from all of the men who have tried to suppress her voice.

The romantic but brutally raw stories in Five Tuesdays in Winter explore desire, heartache, moments of shocking cruelty and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. This profoundly beautiful book was a pleasure to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A great collection of short stories! The stories that didn’t work for me certainly weren’t bad, but I’d be lying if I said this collection is only 5/5 star stories. However, even the ones I didn’t love all had an interesting hook to them, so none were, to me, a failure or waste of time. ‘Creature’ was such a gut punch and so poignantly written. ‘When in Dordogne’ is so bittersweet in the way it shows the dawning of a young man and portrays the nostalgia for that time in our lives (that feel so horrible at the time) beautifully. This is my first Lily King and I’d definitely pick up more from her.

Previously I have found that some short stories have left me disappointed, wanting to know more about the characters and their lives after the story has finished.
Lily King has written these short stories in a way that left me feeling that the characters were fully formed and had an ending which satisfied my curiosity.
Her characters came to life and I felt an instant connection with their future in the story. I was not disappointed or dissatisfied with any of the outcomes.

There were some stories that I enjoyed more than others, some had some heavier themes which was quite jarring- but it generally made for a satisfying read.

[ Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing a proof copy in exchange for an honest review. ]

(With the exception of the last story - which I loved the message of but didn't massively enjoy in itself) I found this collection of stories very cozy. Despite having some very heavy subject matter (look up the triggers before reading if you have any), and despite the less positive nature of some of them, I found that the collection of stories as a whole has a really warm vibe. Maybe it's just that the essense of the bookshop story just stays with you throughout the rest of the book or the fact that I was cuddling a hot water bottle and drinking hot coffee while reading.

If you like short stories, there will be something in here for you, it covers a really wide range of subjects but mostly covers families (particularly different or disfunctional families) and complicated interpersonal relationships.

This would be just the thing to get you out of a reading slump, and a nice palate cleanser between heavier books!

3.5 rounded to 4 because I liked some stories more than others!