Is there an audiobook of Writers & Lovers: A Novel?

Yes. Writers & Lovers: A Novel has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Stacey Glemboski.

Is Writers & Lovers: A Novel on Kindle Unlimited?

No. Writers & Lovers: A Novel was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on July 3, 2026.

Writers & Lovers: A Novel by Lily King book cover for the Book of the Day new adult book review

Our score

4.3/ 5

Excellent

Listen to Writers & Lovers: A Novel free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

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EDITION PUBLISHEDMarch 2020

Genres

Fiction New Adult Literary Fiction

Themes

Perseverance and the artistic lifeGrief and rebuilding after lossMoney, precarity, and self-worth in your early thirtiesChoosing the life you actually want

Writers & Lovers: A Novel

Name: Writers & Lovers: A Novel
Price: 9 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Lily King

Lily King

A luminous novel about a thirty-one-year-old waitress trying to finish her first book while broke, grieving, and torn between two men. A clear-eyed, deeply felt portrait of the artist as a young woman refusing to give up. Quietly triumphant.

The Review

Our take

Lily King has written the rare novel about being a struggling young writer that is neither precious nor self-pitying, and it lands like a small miracle. Casey is thirty-one, waiting tables in Boston, sleeping in a converted potting shed, drowning in student debt, and six years into a novel she cannot finish. Her mother has just died. Most of her friends have quietly given up on art for mortgages and stability. And Casey, against all sense and most of the available evidence, keeps writing. The book is the story of whether she can hold on long enough for her life to turn.

What I love is how unsentimental King is about the cost of an artistic life while still believing, fiercely, that it is worth paying. The grief is rendered without melodrama, surfacing in the ambush moments where loss actually lives, and the financial fear is specific and constant in a way most novels are too genteel to show. Casey's panic about money, her body's stress, the indignity of being broke and overeducated, all of it is observed with a precision that makes her eventual small victories feel enormous.

There is a love triangle, and it is the smartest part of the book. Casey is pulled between an older, established writer with two kids and a younger, kinder one closer to her own footing, and King uses the choice to ask what kind of life Casey actually wants, not just whom she wants. The romance never overwhelms the real subject, which is the slow, unglamorous, frequently humiliating work of becoming the artist you hope you are. The prose is warm and exact, alive to the textures of restaurant work and writing and grief alike.

The novel is quiet by design, and that is worth flagging. Readers who want high drama or a propulsive plot may find its rhythms gentle, its stakes internal, its pleasures cumulative rather than explosive. It is also unabashedly a writer's novel, attentive to the small agonies of the craft in a way that will resonate most with readers who have felt that particular ache. Come to it for character and texture rather than incident and it gives back beautifully.

Why you should read

Readers who love warm, literary coming-of-adulthood stories
Anyone drawn to novels about the writing life
Fans of grounded grief and quiet emotional payoff
Those who want a thoughtful romance that isn't the whole point

What to expect

A broke thirty-one-year-old finishing her first novel
Grief, money fear, and the cost of an artistic life
A smart, low-key love triangle
Gentle pacing and a triumphant ending

Read it when you need to be reminded that perseverance is its own kind of plot, and that an ordinary young woman's refusal to quit can be as gripping as any thriller. It is funny, sad, generous, and finally hopeful, and its closing pages earn a feeling of genuine, hard-won triumph. I finished it grateful and a little teary, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. It is a deeply encouraging novel without ever being a saccharine one, and that balance is harder to strike than King makes it look.

Reviewed by Avery · How our reviews are written

Our verdict

4.3/ 5

Excellent

Listen to Writers & Lovers: A Novel free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

Buy on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices may vary.

Where to read or listen

Is there an audiobook of Writers & Lovers: A Novel?: Yes. Writers & Lovers: A Novel has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Stacey Glemboski.
Listen to Writers & Lovers: A Novel free with an Audible trial
We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.
Is Writers & Lovers: A Novel on Kindle Unlimited?: No. Writers & Lovers: A Novel was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on July 3, 2026.
How much does Writers & Lovers: A Novel cost?: On Amazon: Kindle $9.00, Paperback $10.14, Hardcover $38.60. Prices as of August 25, 2026 at 3:45 AM EDT and may change.

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Common questions

What is Writers & Lovers: A Novel about?: Lily King has written the rare novel about being a struggling young writer that is neither precious nor self-pitying, and it lands like a small miracle. Casey is thirty-one, waiting tables in Boston, sleeping in a converted potting shed, drowning in student debt, and six years into a novel she…
Is Writers & Lovers: A Novel worth reading?: We scored Writers & Lovers: A Novel 4.3 out of 5. A luminous novel about a thirty-one-year-old waitress trying to finish her first book while broke, grieving, and torn between two men. A clear-eyed, deeply felt portrait of the artist as a young woman refusing to give up. Quietly triumphant.