Casey knows that the fact of her womanhood gets in the way of other people’s perception of her writing. The book is set in 1997, but the themes King explores are just as potent today. I write because if I don’t, everything feels worse.” She thinks to herself later: “I don’t write because I think I have something to say. Her landlord, Adam, says when he finds out she’s working on a novel: “I just find it extraordinary that you think you have something to say.” These self-realizations are pocked with comments from men who don’t believe she’ll succeed. She recognizes her spiraling quasi-depression but also her desire for normalcy, for a family someday and just a bit of understanding. It’s easy to forget that the narrative is from a first-person perspective, as Casey is also gentle and doesn’t do anything out of a need for attention.
King reveals these characters’ motives gently. She unsurprisingly delays the decision of choosing one or the other or none. But Casey soon entangles herself with another man, too - Silas, another young writer who happens to be Oscar’s student.
He’s also cute and self-deprecating on dates. She’s pleasantly surprised when he starts pursuing her, showing off his humble charm amid of all his admirers. Some of her writer friends attend Oscar’s workshop at his home each week, so she knows who he is and, of course, wants to impress him. Many writers start in the margins, MFA or not, and many never leave.Ĭasey meets an esteemed older novelist, Oscar Kolton, while waiting on him. Those who have worked in restaurants will appreciate King’s apt descriptions of that life –– the behind-the-scenes reality of other people’s expensive dinners celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. The recent death of her mother has left her physically and emotionally frail, as has a recent breakup with a poet. The story is told by Casey, a debt-ridden waitress with a graduate degree who’s trying to finish the novel she’s been working on for six years. Lily King’s new novel, Writers & Lovers, is a glimpse into life as a female artist in 1990s Boston.