I discovered Lily King this summer and have been devouring her books. They share many motifs -- divorced parents, awful dads, babies given up for adoption -- but she kaleidoscopically recombines them for fresh narratives every time, starring realistic (that is, not always likeable) people making difficult decisions.
She frequently writes about writers, and there is some good advice to be found. I happened to read Ann Patchett's Whistler immediately after King's Heart the Lover, and both mentioned the Icelandic novel Independent People. Intrigued, I did a little searching and found that King and Patchett are friends and support each other's work. I'll be reading that doubly recommended book soon.
Here are my summaries, stripped of spoilers.
The Pleasing Hour, 1999 An ambitious first novel. Rosie, between high school and college, has left behind a child that she gave to her sister, in order to act as au pair to a family with three children in France. We meet her, however, when she is living with the mother of the family she worked for originally. How does she end up there? |
The English Teacher, 2005 A single mom and English teacher, Vida receives a marriage proposal from widowed Tom. Her son Peter is thrilled but Vida’s mantra becomes ‘what have I done’? She struggles with intimacy, starts drinking more, and is put on probation. Does this have to do with Peter’s mystery father? An interesting part of this novel is the chapters told from Peter’s point of view; it’s unusual to read about a teen who actually looks forward to having a stepfamily. Also, the parallels with Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which Vida is teaching; I reread this Thomas Hardy classic, thanks to this book. |
Father of the Rain, 2010 In part 1, we meet teen Daley and her wealthy, alcoholic dad. Mom has left him and Daley is torn. In part 2, young adult Daley gives up a prestigious job and loving boyfriend to help her father get sober. It works for a few months, then he lashes out and she leaves. Years later, in part 3, Daley is married with kids, and dad is in the hospital. Who have they become? Can she and her father reconcile? |
Euphoria, 2014 King’s first, and so far only, venture into historical fiction, set in the 1930s. Famous female anthropologist Nell and her jealous male partner Fen are studying a New Guinea tribe, with the help of a lonely Englishman, Bankson, who is obsessed with Nell. How will this love triangle resolve, and what will be its fallout on the natives? |
Writers & Lovers, 2020 Casey is trying to be a writer. She’s in love with two men: a widowed writing teacher with children, and a young, struggling member of that teacher’s writing group. After much back and forth, she publishes her book, scores a great job teaching English in a too-good-to-be-true school, and chooses…? |
Five Tuesdays in Winter, short stories, 2021. Many of the same motifs recur in these short stories that read like novels: children being taken care of by young people, as in The Pleasing Hour (“Creature,” “When in the Dordogne,” “North Sea”); single parents finding love, as in The English Teacher (title story); rape (“Hotel Seattle”). Several star a protagonist who is a writer, most notably “The Man at the Door,” a magic realism fever dream in which a man begins by critiquing a novel the narrator hasn’t even written yet, then morphs into her alcoholic father. |
Heart the Lover, 2025 This novel follows a three-part structure similar to that in Father of the Rain. The narrator is a college student who starts dating Sam. When it doesn't work out between them, she dates Sam's friend Yash. They're deeply in love and he comes to visit her in Paris where he is offered a job. Instead, he returns to the States and convinces her to join him. But when she arrives at the airport, he is not there. Years later, she is married with two children and learns that Yash is dying of cancer -- like her own son Jack. Will she find out what happened? This one made me cry, a feat very few books accomplish. |
