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Lily King

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.lilykingbooks.com/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/lilykingbooks

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

October 2009

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Lily King grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.A. in English Literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. She has taught English and Creative Writing at several universities and high schools in this country and abroad. Lily's new novel, Euphoria, was released in June 2014. It has drawn significant acclaim so far, being named an Amazon Book of the Month, on the Indie Next List, and hitting numerous summer reading lists from The Boston Globe to O Magazine and USA Today. Reviewed on the cover of The New York Times Book Review, Emily Eakin called Euphoria, “a taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace.”

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While your book largely follows the life of Margaret Mead, you do take some liberties, particularly with the resolution of her relationships. . . Why did you make those decisions and has there been any reaction from readers (or the Margaret Mead estate, even?)

Lily King Hi Sara! Great question! When I first got the idea and started researching, I thought I would tell, as best I could from pretty limited sources, the s…moreHi Sara! Great question! When I first got the idea and started researching, I thought I would tell, as best I could from pretty limited sources, the story of what happened with Margaret Mead, her second husband Reo Fortune, and the British anthropologist Gregory Bateson in 1933 in what was then called the Territory of New Guinea. But the by the end of the first page of the first draft of the book, I remembered I was a novelist, not a biographer or a historian and I had no interest in sticking to the facts. My only allegiance is to my characters and the story as it unfolds. And my characters very quickly became my own; they were not Mead or Fortune or Bateson. How could they be? I had never met them and only knew a limited amount of things about them. But to create fictional characters you have to know everything--or you have to give yourself the freedom to know whatever you need at any given moment to know. So I borrowed from my real-life inspirations, but I made up much, much more. I had to make up the rules as I went—I didn't know any books that had this model but I wasn't thinking about models or anything like that. I was just trying to write a book I would like to read. That's all I can ever do. That's what I stay loyal to. I have heard from Mead and Bateson's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson, a gifted writer and anthropologist, and she has been wonderful and supportive. She is fully aware that I was not trying to capture the personalities or story of her parents. Sorry, long answer!(less)

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Hi Lily, I absolutely loved Euphoria-- so much so that I started a book club just so that I would have people to discuss it with. I loved how the book is loosely based on the life of Margaret Mead. What I wanted to ask is if you see yourself doing something like this again in the future-- write a novel about the life of another historical figure?

Lily King Oh how happy that makes me that you started a book club because of it! Yes, it does feel like a bit of a bug I've caught. I have a few more ideas for …moreOh how happy that makes me that you started a book club because of it! Yes, it does feel like a bit of a bug I've caught. I have a few more ideas for sometime in the future. But right now I'm working on something contemporary. It's much harder than Euphoria and I'm daunted by the challenge. But I think that's probably a good way to feel. Thanks so much for writing. Can I recommend Old Filth to your club? I love that book so. (less)

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Lily King’s books

Average rating: 3.96 · 332,146 ratings · 43,077 reviews · 14 distinct works • Similar authors

	Writers & Lovers 3.99 avg rating — 167,289 ratings — published 2020 — 62 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Euphoria 3.87 avg rating — 99,702 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Heart the Lover 4.42 avg rating — 24,549 ratings — published 2025 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Five Tuesdays in Winter 3.71 avg rating — 22,778 ratings — published 2021 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Father of the Rain 4.03 avg rating — 8,875 ratings — published 2010 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Pleasing Hour 3.54 avg rating — 4,677 ratings — published 1999 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The English Teacher 3.67 avg rating — 4,182 ratings — published 2005 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hotel Seattle 3.86 avg rating — 44 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Story 212: When in the Dordogne 4.20 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where she got the gun really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Lily King…

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

Polls

What book would you like to read for our May 2024 Group Read? The theme is Lily.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Classics, Science Fiction

24 votes 30.0%

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Historical Fiction

19 votes 23.8%

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
Thriller

13 votes 16.3%

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Fantasy, Young Adult

12 votes 15.0%

The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell
Historical Fiction

5 votes 6.3%

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Horror

3 votes 3.8%

Euphoria by Lily King
Historical Fiction

2 votes 2.5%

Lily by Rose Tremain
Historical Fiction

2 votes 2.5%

80 total votes

3 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: FALL CHALLENGE 2009 COMPLETED TASKS	3942	2762	Nov 30, 2009 09:01PM
The Seasonal Read...: * READERBOARD	10	611	Oct 17, 2010 10:08AM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2637	933	Aug 31, 2012 09:02PM
The Life of a Boo...: June 2014 Book Addicts Reading Challenge	121	497	Jul 01, 2014 08:02PM
Coffee & Books: The Book Log	734	369	Aug 03, 2014 09:24PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: Do Not Delete Posts	2625	600	Aug 31, 2014 08:59PM

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Lily’s Friend Comments

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message 2: by Robb

Aug 20, 2010 08:46AM

I have no idea how this site works, but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed and deeply admired KING OF THE RAIN, which was recommended to me by Anne Tyler. I have all your books on order, now, and I'm delighted to have them to look forward to.
I hope you're content and flourishing! All best wishes--Robb Forman Dew (robbdew@me.com)

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message 1: by Susan

Mar 21, 2010 06:18PM

Dear Lily, what a fascinating list. I love its breadth and scope. It makes me want to go buy every single title and reread the ones I already know.

Your friend in books, Susan

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