Why you should read Jenna Bush Hager's new book-club pick Writers & Lovers: Review
On Monday, Jenna Bush Hager selected Lily King's new novel Writers & Lovers for her monthly TODAY book club. Below, EW reviews the book.
Artistic ambition is often slapped with an expiration date. But what if, at that fateful moment, your art is all you have left? Reeling from the death of her mother, the end of a relationship, and a mountain of debt, Writers & Lovers protagonist Casey tries to move forward the only way she knows how: by continuing work on her first novel, which she's struggled with for six years.
To complicate matters, she also suddenly finds herself faced with two very different romantic prospects, both of whom are also writers, naturally. As intimate — and vulnerable — as the acts of its title players, King's novel follows a deeply relatable protagonist navigating a whole menu of crises (some better drawn than others) surrounded by a cast of genuine, vivid characters. Writers, lovers, teachers, waiters, brothers, daughters, posers, friends—the book occupies a small space, but packs it to the brim with humanity. B+
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