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The Pleasing Hour
The first novel from a new literary voice brimming with sensitivity and lyricism, The Pleasing Hour is the story of an American in Europe whose coming-of-age defies all our usual conceptions of naivete and experience. Fleeing a devastating loss, Rosie takes a job as an au pair with a Parisian family and soon finds the comfort and intimacy she longs for with their children and the father, Marc. Only Nicole, the children's distant, impeccably polished mother, is unwilling to embrace the young American. But when Rosie realizes that her attachments have become transgressions, she leaves for the south of France. There she learns about Nicole's own haunted past and the losses that link the two women more closely than either could have imagined.
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
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4982 people want to read
About the author
Lily King
14 books6,459 followersLily 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.”
Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Her third novel, Father of the Rain (2010), was a New York Times Editors Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Novel of the Year and winner of both the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Fiction Award.
Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Writer's Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.
Lily’s first novel, The Pleasing Hour (1999) won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second, The English Teacher, was a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year, a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year, and the winner of the Maine Fiction Award. Her third novel, Father of the Rain (2010), was a New York Times Editors Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Novel of the Year and winner of both the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Maine Fiction Award.
Lily is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship and a Whiting Writer's Award. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Ploughshares and Glimmer Train, as well as in several anthologies.
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September 13, 2023i found a hard to find hardcover by an author i love for $1. so i think i'm magic
October 31, 2023
Not nearly as accomplished as her later work, Lily King's debut novel has hints of the strengths she would later refine. It's a relaxing, yet emotionally tense story about an American au pair working for a family in Paris that's loosely based on King's own life experiences.
Click here to hear my thoughts on Lily King, this book, and all her other books over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
Click here to hear my thoughts on Lily King, this book, and all her other books over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
August 2, 2012
While I found King's first effort well-written and compelling in the beginning, I was left disappointed and thoroughly annoyed by the time I finished it. The plot is uneven and rambling with many background stories of peripheral characters that are left incomplete and therefore frustratingly superfluous. Furthermore, even the main characters are never fully realized. We are given a rather complete history of Nicole, for example, her mother and childhood, only to be left with virtually no explanation or resolution for her character in the present. For all it's direction toward "life's lessons", frankly there is little to be learned here by anyone, even the protagonist, Rosie, whom I wanted to root for, but who was drawn too morose and dull to permit me to. The dark tone, the dialogue jumping around to French and Spanish without translations, and the characters half-drawn and left hanging were all too much for me.
My bottom line: This book had promise, but in the end, it was a broken one.
My bottom line: This book had promise, but in the end, it was a broken one.
June 9, 2021
This being Lily King’s debut novel, I was braced for mediocrity. I told myself it wouldn’t be as good as Writers & Lovers or Euphoria. And, okay, it’s not - but, I still absolutely loved it. The writing, the characters, the setting 🙌🏼
Now, this book is so sparse for plot that if I gave you a brief summary, there’d be no reason to read the novel at all. No, seriously - I just went and checked the goodreads description and I’m so glad I hadn’t read it prior to actually reading this book because they just tell you the only four plot points this book hits. If you do have an interest in reading this novel, trust me, all you need to know is this: American au pair running from personal tragedy tries to fit in and find solace in Paris, France with her host family. The family consists of a strikingly beautiful mother, Nicole, unconventionally attractive father Marc, and their three children. This is primarily a novel about women and the thread of experiences that tie us all together - first as daughters, then wives, and ultimately mothers.
As I was reading this, I was fully immersed. I loved every second of it, savored every word. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters, the setting - which jumps from Midwest America to Paris to southern France and Spain - and the narrative. I loved looking at and learning about the family through the au pair’s lens. And then later, I liked that each of the children had their own chapter from their perspective. I wish Marc had his own chapter. That’s what I was missing. I wish there were more chapters about all the periphery characters I met but didn’t have a chance to learn the backstory of.
So far I’ve read 3 novels and a short story collection (ARC) by Lily King and I have loved all of them. No doubt, she is an auto-buy, comfort author for me. If you want to explore her works I highly suggest starting with either Euphoria or Writes & Lovers - both 5★ reads for me.
Now, this book is so sparse for plot that if I gave you a brief summary, there’d be no reason to read the novel at all. No, seriously - I just went and checked the goodreads description and I’m so glad I hadn’t read it prior to actually reading this book because they just tell you the only four plot points this book hits. If you do have an interest in reading this novel, trust me, all you need to know is this: American au pair running from personal tragedy tries to fit in and find solace in Paris, France with her host family. The family consists of a strikingly beautiful mother, Nicole, unconventionally attractive father Marc, and their three children. This is primarily a novel about women and the thread of experiences that tie us all together - first as daughters, then wives, and ultimately mothers.
As I was reading this, I was fully immersed. I loved every second of it, savored every word. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters, the setting - which jumps from Midwest America to Paris to southern France and Spain - and the narrative. I loved looking at and learning about the family through the au pair’s lens. And then later, I liked that each of the children had their own chapter from their perspective. I wish Marc had his own chapter. That’s what I was missing. I wish there were more chapters about all the periphery characters I met but didn’t have a chance to learn the backstory of.
So far I’ve read 3 novels and a short story collection (ARC) by Lily King and I have loved all of them. No doubt, she is an auto-buy, comfort author for me. If you want to explore her works I highly suggest starting with either Euphoria or Writes & Lovers - both 5★ reads for me.
January 12, 2022
So according to goodreads, this is the lowest-rated Lily King work, but it's easily my favorite of the three I've read! The day after I finished (and enjoyed) her new short story collection, I came across an old copy of her debut novel at a used bookstore and picked it up. The Pleasing Hour is so lush and meandering and subtle and delicate. Read for poetic description and deeply layered characters and for a houseboat in Paris, a road trip through Spain, and forgotten family history in southern France.
July 19, 2012
The Pleasing Hour
by Lily King
Rosie goes to Paris to be an au pair. Her baggage includes a motherless childhood and a teen pregnancy deliberately and secretly planned in order to give her barren sister a much-desired child. Being an au pair in Paris follows the delivery of the baby and is designed to separate herself from the baby she cannot acknowledge.
Rosie settles into her role as an au pair with the Tivot family, Nicole and Marc and their three children. We learn the history of each of the family members in great detail. Near the end of that year, the family takes a vacation to Spain and there Rosie shines in her ability to communicate in Spanish. It is there, however, that she has an affair with Marc Tivot – father, husband, and stereotypical Frenchman.During the year, Rosie receives letters, presumably from her sister, that she tucks away unopened. Some are so thick they are taped closed. At the end of the book (and the end of her year in Paris), Rosie decides it is time to read the letters. In those letters is the story, the untold story that should have been this book.
Littered with French dialogue and then Spanish dialogue, these inane conversations are without translation and without purpose. As Ms. King’s first novel, Barnes & Noble gave this book its Discover award. It was also cited as a New York Times Notable Book. I give myself an award for reading to the end.
August 20, 2014
After I read Euphoria I went in search of more of Lily King’s novels and happened on her first, The Pleasing Hour. I read about two thirds of it and put it down. It was a meandering novel that did not seem to know its business. It kept dropping characters I cared about to pick up on others I had no interest in. I still look forward to reading more of King’s work, as Euphoria was riveting.
June 4, 2020
Very different from euphoria. Loved the dynamics. I like character driven stories. A few puzzles persist. Why did Nicole marry Marc in the first place: because he resembled the man she loved, from behind? What did Nicole do all day? She leaves the house, activities are implied but never confirmed. She is meant to be an enigma, so I guess it works. I've read other reviews just now. Lots of readers frustrated, but one question that was answered for me regarding Nicole's cold reception to Rosie in the beginning and the reverse at the end: Rosie saved her marriage. Nicole is a cold person. Her parents couldnt love each other. Her mother committed suicide. Her move to Paris dropped her into a world of young women and men of privilege in which fashion and manners were more important than anything of substance. Nicole marries a smart and interesting man, but it doesn't rub off. Rosie serves as the character who helps Nicole see him as attractive, interesting and lovable. I didn't think Rosie was dull, as other reviewers wrote. I thought she was young and unformed, but receptive. She learned. I liked her. Not a heroine, but a solid protagonist.
July 27, 2023
I love Lily I love France I HATE affairs lol
December 31, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
The Pleasing Hour, almost a 4 but not quite. It’s a coming-of-age story, of which I believe I’ve read a good many, but none quite like this one. Rosie, who has only recently graduated high school, hires herself out as an au pair to a wealthy French family who live on a houseboat parked on the Seine in Paris. She’s the live in help to a family of five.
Marc, the dad is a doctor, Nicole, the mom is sophisticated but distant. Odile, the older daughter is almost Rosie’s (the “jeune fille”) age. She has a boyfriend mama totally approves of, but he doesn’t really make Odile’s heart flutter. The younger daughter turns 13 and is that awkward age between childhood and adolescence. Guillaume, the baby of the family, is the apple of his mother’s eye, is deeply religious and aspires to the priesthood.
Of course, that’s everything on the surface of this interesting debut novel, published in 2000. I think it’s evident from Lily King’s first book that character development is one of her strong suits. I had previously read Euphoria and I’m sure there are more Lily King novels in my future.
This last book wraps up 2025 for me. Happy New Year to all my reading buddies far and wide.
Goodreads 2025 Challenge
Book #125 of 115
The Pleasing Hour, almost a 4 but not quite. It’s a coming-of-age story, of which I believe I’ve read a good many, but none quite like this one. Rosie, who has only recently graduated high school, hires herself out as an au pair to a wealthy French family who live on a houseboat parked on the Seine in Paris. She’s the live in help to a family of five.
Marc, the dad is a doctor, Nicole, the mom is sophisticated but distant. Odile, the older daughter is almost Rosie’s (the “jeune fille”) age. She has a boyfriend mama totally approves of, but he doesn’t really make Odile’s heart flutter. The younger daughter turns 13 and is that awkward age between childhood and adolescence. Guillaume, the baby of the family, is the apple of his mother’s eye, is deeply religious and aspires to the priesthood.
Of course, that’s everything on the surface of this interesting debut novel, published in 2000. I think it’s evident from Lily King’s first book that character development is one of her strong suits. I had previously read Euphoria and I’m sure there are more Lily King novels in my future.
This last book wraps up 2025 for me. Happy New Year to all my reading buddies far and wide.
Goodreads 2025 Challenge
Book #125 of 115
January 7, 2025
This is as about as good as book can get. It's simply told yet every moment is packed with such information both of the character, their relationships to others and their surroundings that you only end up reading a couple of pages at a time. You need to let the moments King creates sink in.
It is ostensibly the story of Rosie, whose mother died before she was a year old. She has a baby that she leaves with her sister (the story behind that is fodder for a whole other complete novel) and escapes to France to nanny for a family who live on a houseboat. She immediately is put off by the matriarch Nicole, who is sleek and cool and very sophisticated while warming to her husband a tall, gawky yet somehow handsome doctor. She tries to keep emotional distance from the family as she will only be there a year but that turns out to be impossible.
Each character whether primary or secondary are imbued with a history and such life it's as if you are there with them, in their head, feeling their feels. It's what the best literature does. Rosie is a flawed but intractable heroine learning self-esteem and her effect on others and whether she wants to affect others or not. With Nicole, you become privy to a tragic past that explains her emotional precision and perceived coldness.
Ultimately, the story is about mothers. Mothers lost and mothers to be and the need to mother and be mothered.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's a literary novel for sure, but it dazzles with it's simplicity. It's like when one is fishing and casts a clear straight line into the water. The Pleasing Hour is wise and full of depth and compassion and may be the best thing I've read all year.
It is ostensibly the story of Rosie, whose mother died before she was a year old. She has a baby that she leaves with her sister (the story behind that is fodder for a whole other complete novel) and escapes to France to nanny for a family who live on a houseboat. She immediately is put off by the matriarch Nicole, who is sleek and cool and very sophisticated while warming to her husband a tall, gawky yet somehow handsome doctor. She tries to keep emotional distance from the family as she will only be there a year but that turns out to be impossible.
Each character whether primary or secondary are imbued with a history and such life it's as if you are there with them, in their head, feeling their feels. It's what the best literature does. Rosie is a flawed but intractable heroine learning self-esteem and her effect on others and whether she wants to affect others or not. With Nicole, you become privy to a tragic past that explains her emotional precision and perceived coldness.
Ultimately, the story is about mothers. Mothers lost and mothers to be and the need to mother and be mothered.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's a literary novel for sure, but it dazzles with it's simplicity. It's like when one is fishing and casts a clear straight line into the water. The Pleasing Hour is wise and full of depth and compassion and may be the best thing I've read all year.
November 15, 2010
Although King kept my attention with her story, I found some of the transitions awkward and the relationships between the characters somewhat unclear. We don’t know why Nicole is so resentful of Rosie from their first meeting or why she feels so close and trusting of her at the end. The bull fighting scene is very good as she depicts the same bull-killing scenes through the eyes of each of the characters. Symbolically, something could probably be made of this and the difficult problems that have formed all the people in the book. This was definitely a quick read, but not a very deep one.
September 18, 2018
This book started out with an interesting plot and ended up being not pleasing. Lily King is a good writer, in how she describes people, scenery, action. However, this book as a whole needs help with character development and a focus to the story lines.
The basic plot line is about a young woman, Rosie, who doesn't go to college but instead goes to France to be an au pair. Then she gets entangled with the father of the family (not an original theme). and leaves early to take care of the the elderly guardian instead.
There were aspects of the story that could have been more developed. For example, Rosie chooses to get pregnant while in high school so she can give that baby to her sister who is infertile. As soon as she gives the baby up she, unexpectedly, doesn't go to college but takes off to be an au pair in France. That's quite a story line there. She is, after all, postpartum. Only a brief description of how she felt holding the child, one paragraph about the boyfriend, some references to not being able to write to her sister. That's a loaded story right there.
Rosie is in a new country, quite alone, literally and figuratively. No one knows about her pregnancy/baby/adoption. She's taking care of children and family. Does she have any further feelings about this life change?
The mother of the family, Nicole, is a difficult personality. We get a clear (good writing) description of her behavior, her snobbiness, in the beginning. That is repeated too often without furthering the plot. There are repeated descriptions of Nicole's awkward husband and then furtive glances. There are some insights into the children, that, again, could have been developed. The young son who wanted to be a priest, the young teen daughter, the one daughter with whom Rosie feels some rapport. Those were three interesting characters though what did that all have to do with the story?
The scenes with the elderly guardian were a way to explain Nicole's particular behaviours. That had (unrealized) potential. Not much more is explained about Rosie's time with the elderly woman.
It was pretty disappointing that the climax, so to speak, of the story is a dalliance with the husband/father of the family. Rosie feels turmoil and must leave. Somehow it's arranged that she'll take care of the elderly guardian, without anyone saying more.
Stop and look. This is a story about a troubled 19 year old young woman. She is a stranger in a foreign land and feels there is 'something' between her and that beleaguered husband. She leaves after 10 months because of that dalliance. Not original. You could probably write a story like that for every year they have an au pair. All the really interesting issues could have been more developed. That was not pleasing to me.
The basic plot line is about a young woman, Rosie, who doesn't go to college but instead goes to France to be an au pair. Then she gets entangled with the father of the family (not an original theme). and leaves early to take care of the the elderly guardian instead.
There were aspects of the story that could have been more developed. For example, Rosie chooses to get pregnant while in high school so she can give that baby to her sister who is infertile. As soon as she gives the baby up she, unexpectedly, doesn't go to college but takes off to be an au pair in France. That's quite a story line there. She is, after all, postpartum. Only a brief description of how she felt holding the child, one paragraph about the boyfriend, some references to not being able to write to her sister. That's a loaded story right there.
Rosie is in a new country, quite alone, literally and figuratively. No one knows about her pregnancy/baby/adoption. She's taking care of children and family. Does she have any further feelings about this life change?
The mother of the family, Nicole, is a difficult personality. We get a clear (good writing) description of her behavior, her snobbiness, in the beginning. That is repeated too often without furthering the plot. There are repeated descriptions of Nicole's awkward husband and then furtive glances. There are some insights into the children, that, again, could have been developed. The young son who wanted to be a priest, the young teen daughter, the one daughter with whom Rosie feels some rapport. Those were three interesting characters though what did that all have to do with the story?
The scenes with the elderly guardian were a way to explain Nicole's particular behaviours. That had (unrealized) potential. Not much more is explained about Rosie's time with the elderly woman.
It was pretty disappointing that the climax, so to speak, of the story is a dalliance with the husband/father of the family. Rosie feels turmoil and must leave. Somehow it's arranged that she'll take care of the elderly guardian, without anyone saying more.
Stop and look. This is a story about a troubled 19 year old young woman. She is a stranger in a foreign land and feels there is 'something' between her and that beleaguered husband. She leaves after 10 months because of that dalliance. Not original. You could probably write a story like that for every year they have an au pair. All the really interesting issues could have been more developed. That was not pleasing to me.
March 20, 2020
This book is subtle, quiet and read-between-the-lines. I loved its poetic prose.
Nineteen year old American Rosie goes to Paris to become an au pair for the Tivot family. Sounds like an exciting adventure, but Rosie has left behind a troubled past. The year before, Rosie deliberately got pregnant on a high school date in order to have a baby she wanted to "give" to her infertile older sister. But when the time came to actually give the child up, Rosie found herself so conflicted, confused and guilt ridden she had to leave the country.
The Tivot family have problems of their own. Nine year old Guillaume wants to be a priest but will struggle with the existence of God. Seventeen year old Odille is a Parisian beauty, involved with a "perfect" boy but realizes she is more attracted to girls. Twelve year old Lola is Rosie's main confident until a tragic incident drives her away. Nicole, the distant mother, has a dark past of her own. And Marc, the awkward father, becomes more and more attracted to Rosie as the months go on.
I was surprised to see so many one and two star reviews. It is true that the character analysis create a bit of a chop in the plot, but I found them interesting nonetheless. I would recommend this book for those that like literary, poetic, character driven novels and don't mind filling in the blanks of a story with their own imagination.
Nineteen year old American Rosie goes to Paris to become an au pair for the Tivot family. Sounds like an exciting adventure, but Rosie has left behind a troubled past. The year before, Rosie deliberately got pregnant on a high school date in order to have a baby she wanted to "give" to her infertile older sister. But when the time came to actually give the child up, Rosie found herself so conflicted, confused and guilt ridden she had to leave the country.
The Tivot family have problems of their own. Nine year old Guillaume wants to be a priest but will struggle with the existence of God. Seventeen year old Odille is a Parisian beauty, involved with a "perfect" boy but realizes she is more attracted to girls. Twelve year old Lola is Rosie's main confident until a tragic incident drives her away. Nicole, the distant mother, has a dark past of her own. And Marc, the awkward father, becomes more and more attracted to Rosie as the months go on.
I was surprised to see so many one and two star reviews. It is true that the character analysis create a bit of a chop in the plot, but I found them interesting nonetheless. I would recommend this book for those that like literary, poetic, character driven novels and don't mind filling in the blanks of a story with their own imagination.
April 5, 2015
The kick-off premise of the book was a bit overdramatic for what it needed to be to launch such a story, but that was almost forgivable after all. The characters were finely sketched, if incompletely (and this seems to be on purpose). The unignorable "summer romance" thread of the narrative made this sit on this reader's tongue like a strange fusion of a Babysitter's Club Super Special meets something Literary.
The true mastery of this book was creating a dastardly heroine that is pitiable because of her familial circumstances and because she is young. You forgive her even before she's had a chance to destroy things again. This is the uncensored narrative of Being Nineteen.
The true mastery of this book was creating a dastardly heroine that is pitiable because of her familial circumstances and because she is young. You forgive her even before she's had a chance to destroy things again. This is the uncensored narrative of Being Nineteen.
October 23, 2020
This is King's debut novel, and you get some nice glimpses here at what King is really, really good at it. Clearly though, she's honed her writing skills since this was published (1999). Somehow the present day plot seemed to distract the reader from the really good bits, I think. At the end, you're reminded of "the mauve hour" which was this really beautiful aside told by Lucie to Rosie about Nicole's mother sitting on her grandfather's porch. It seemed, when it was told, this really poignant, important moment of the book and Nicole, and her family. (I'll include it below with a *) But when I got to the end, I had only remembered its importance and the phrase, and not exactly who it was even about (because isn't what I just said so convoluted? Told by Lucie to Rosie about Nicole's mother sitting on her grandfather's porch, and that actually, in fact, mauve hour was his term?) So while I don't mind many characters and multiple perspectives, things seemed to get a little hazy sometimes during the Pleasing Hour. Maybe also the point?
All this to say, I love King and the other books I've read so far, but this one wasn't my favorite. .
Some lines I liked:
"He was not just mocking the ridiculous proportion of those carrots to the other ingredients on the counter. He was saying, If it's not carrots it's something else; he was saying, How futile life is, the slicing of carrots, the eating of meals; he was saying, How wonderful life is, to come home to the security of carrots in the kitchen; he was saying, Another day come to its devastating close. He was saying all this and I heard him because he was like me, entirely ambivalent about life. It was almost a question: Should I be full of joy or despair, Rosie? Joy, my face always replied to him, not because I felt sure that was the answer, but because I'd begun to want to make it his."
*the passage (pg 5): "'I don't know what's different today about the sun and the air, but then the sky would go purple sometimes - not purple, exactly, but mauve. That's what Nicole's mother called it.' 'You knew her mother?' It is an odd image, Nicole as a child. 'She was seventeen years younger than me, but she ended up being the closest friend I ever had. She told me that when she was a little girl she'd sit on her grandfather's porch in Roussillon and have tea and cakes during the mauve hour. I never hear the word mauve without thinking of her, but the light's changed since then.'"
All this to say, I love King and the other books I've read so far, but this one wasn't my favorite. .
Some lines I liked:
"He was not just mocking the ridiculous proportion of those carrots to the other ingredients on the counter. He was saying, If it's not carrots it's something else; he was saying, How futile life is, the slicing of carrots, the eating of meals; he was saying, How wonderful life is, to come home to the security of carrots in the kitchen; he was saying, Another day come to its devastating close. He was saying all this and I heard him because he was like me, entirely ambivalent about life. It was almost a question: Should I be full of joy or despair, Rosie? Joy, my face always replied to him, not because I felt sure that was the answer, but because I'd begun to want to make it his."
*the passage (pg 5): "'I don't know what's different today about the sun and the air, but then the sky would go purple sometimes - not purple, exactly, but mauve. That's what Nicole's mother called it.' 'You knew her mother?' It is an odd image, Nicole as a child. 'She was seventeen years younger than me, but she ended up being the closest friend I ever had. She told me that when she was a little girl she'd sit on her grandfather's porch in Roussillon and have tea and cakes during the mauve hour. I never hear the word mauve without thinking of her, but the light's changed since then.'"
March 22, 2024
I should have been one of them; guarded, flinchless.
!!! WHEWWWWWWW WOW WHAT A GEM!!
Hate to review a book against other books but this is like -- for me, at least, and my specific tastes/experience -- the ultimate "poor young woman gets in the middle of a high class marriage with a cold wife" novel. Far, far beyond anything I've ever read in that stable. We get so much yet so little about the internal lives of the married couple in question, which I see frustrates other readers, but which I thought was thoughtfully and masterfully done. Even the affair between our main character and the husband wasn't the real hinge point, it was between FMC and the wife, which is imo always the more interesting relationship, and again here it was done so beautifully.
We slowly see so many of these people unfurl, then curl back into themselves, we get the helpless becoming the experienced and back again... So much of the novel is about grief and secrets and how we form ourselves and if we can return to who we were before; I particularly loved the rumination on fleeting beauty, and how it can hurt to know that you're seeing something wonderful that will inevitably become a memory. Loved the dives into different POVs of the au pair children. Also, as a former exchange student/hopeful polyglot/aspiring au pair that never made it abroad, it hit me in all those particular spots in a way I didn't know they needed to be hit.
Will absolutely be buying a physical copy and rereading, I drunk down my first reading like cold orange juice. So good. Soooo so good. Post-book glow hitting hard rn. The prose, too! My God, King is so gifted.
!!! WHEWWWWWWW WOW WHAT A GEM!!
Hate to review a book against other books but this is like -- for me, at least, and my specific tastes/experience -- the ultimate "poor young woman gets in the middle of a high class marriage with a cold wife" novel. Far, far beyond anything I've ever read in that stable. We get so much yet so little about the internal lives of the married couple in question, which I see frustrates other readers, but which I thought was thoughtfully and masterfully done. Even the affair between our main character and the husband wasn't the real hinge point, it was between FMC and the wife, which is imo always the more interesting relationship, and again here it was done so beautifully.
We slowly see so many of these people unfurl, then curl back into themselves, we get the helpless becoming the experienced and back again... So much of the novel is about grief and secrets and how we form ourselves and if we can return to who we were before; I particularly loved the rumination on fleeting beauty, and how it can hurt to know that you're seeing something wonderful that will inevitably become a memory. Loved the dives into different POVs of the au pair children. Also, as a former exchange student/hopeful polyglot/aspiring au pair that never made it abroad, it hit me in all those particular spots in a way I didn't know they needed to be hit.
Will absolutely be buying a physical copy and rereading, I drunk down my first reading like cold orange juice. So good. Soooo so good. Post-book glow hitting hard rn. The prose, too! My God, King is so gifted.
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June 20, 2023her debut novel. and everybody in the reviews is complaining about the plot. i don't think ms king's intention or ambition was to write a staircase-style story (this happened and then this happened and then this happened) around a particular adventure or problem. i think she was trying to write in watercolor ... i think this book is best looked at as a collection of loose sketches on an afternoon in a foreign city ... that attempt to capture the essence of a person, or not even of a person, of an afternoon ... the essence of a not-too-ambitious, not-too-pretty, not-yet-woman but generally kind american girl .. the essence of a completely ordinary meal in paris .. delicious
September 1, 2025
Beautiful writing but a bit all over the place. In this debut, King is like a figure skater who feels the need to put every trick into her routine, not always trusting the judges and crowds will see the grace in simple lines. But her prose cannot be faulted.
Read
September 6, 2025this was very good and took me a silly amount of time to read. this is the best lily king I’ve read so far. also there was a genuine surprise in this book that had me flipping back thru pages to see if maybe I’d misunderstood. haven’t felt that in a while. what a debut!!
April 20, 2015
This book will capture your soul, you will grit your teeth, lament...find the snug warm emotion only family can give you, trip on the unsuspecting trials of sexual identity, bask in the heady light of burgeoning love. This novel is a journey rather than a story, a layered gateaux of sweet longing, bitter regrets and the strange duties deep affection puts on the ego. Destination, after all, is often not a place but a feeling of belonging, a sense of achievement a niche you fit into. For every heart that has yearned to resist inelegant temptation--here is the perfect recipe of understanding.
King's writing is bursting with color and primed with passion, it sweeps you off your feet with its many convoluted evocative nuances. The simple story of Rosie, the au pair with a tragic past, has so many angles it's as if it's reflected from a prism. The concept of a young woman perhaps being lead by her nose into guilt, or perhaps creating her own guilt is explored with such subtlety that it comes a a surprise to realize that this is really the theme of the novel. This kind of writing is rare, this type of author a 'one-in-a-generation' species. Not since I first read John Fowles have I been so deeply affected by the written word. The questions posed (without giving the plot away) : Did they plan it, had they done it before?
A masterpiece.
King's writing is bursting with color and primed with passion, it sweeps you off your feet with its many convoluted evocative nuances. The simple story of Rosie, the au pair with a tragic past, has so many angles it's as if it's reflected from a prism. The concept of a young woman perhaps being lead by her nose into guilt, or perhaps creating her own guilt is explored with such subtlety that it comes a a surprise to realize that this is really the theme of the novel. This kind of writing is rare, this type of author a 'one-in-a-generation' species. Not since I first read John Fowles have I been so deeply affected by the written word. The questions posed (without giving the plot away) : Did they plan it, had they done it before?
A masterpiece.
June 29, 2015
There is a lot to like in this book. It it well plotted the reader is interested in the characters. The question I have to ask my self is this: why didn't I like the book more than I did? I think that Rosie at least for part of the story is suffering a bit from postpartum depression. This deadens the intensity of her feelings and as a consequence makes the book a bit dead too. Also there were too many lose ends for my taste. The lack of closure is very realistic but did not increase the entertainment value of the story. Prehaps I will re-read this and like it better in a year or two.
July 16, 2023
sadly did not like this one quite as much as I’ve liked the rest of what I’ve read by lily king. the writing is lovely as always, but the characters are a bit flat and the constant perspective and timeline shifting can feel disorganized and confusing. however, there’s some beautiful and touching scenes here, and some thoughtful musing on sexuality, home, and coming of age. will definitely be picking up more lily king despite this semi miss — maybe euphoria next? if anyone’s read father of the rain lmk if it’s any good
April 10, 2020
The writing is wonderful to just sink in to and be transported far away but the story itself felt incomplete. The characters are so vivid but their stories ramble without coming together. It took me awhile to get through this one but still, I’m grateful for the time spent in Paris on a boat and then in Spain. I want to go there!
May 25, 2020
It is interesting to read all that an author has produced and see them grow and improve. The themes are consistent across all books.
October 17, 2022
I love Lily King's writing, and I have enjoyed many of her novels which are largely character driven. This, her debut, is no exception. Set in France, The Pleasing Hour explores the relationship between an American au pair, and her host family. Both Rosie and her host family have histories which are slowly revealed as the novel meanders along.
I read this book more than twenty years ago when it was first released. I rarely re-read books (there are too many new ones waiting to be read) but I could not resist a revisit when I saw a copy at the library. And I am so glad I did not only because it was lovely to revisit this story and, although good, to see just how more nuanced King's writing has become. Perhaps it's time for some more re-reads but before then I have her new collection of short stories, "Five Tuesdays in Winter" in my TBR library and really must not leave it languishing any longer.
I read this book more than twenty years ago when it was first released. I rarely re-read books (there are too many new ones waiting to be read) but I could not resist a revisit when I saw a copy at the library. And I am so glad I did not only because it was lovely to revisit this story and, although good, to see just how more nuanced King's writing has become. Perhaps it's time for some more re-reads but before then I have her new collection of short stories, "Five Tuesdays in Winter" in my TBR library and really must not leave it languishing any longer.
unfinished
January 19, 2024I read the first 75 pages. In theme and atmosphere this debut novel was most like her short stories (adolescents, travel, relationships). After giving up her baby to her sister, a young woman goes abroad to be an au pair for a family who live on a Paris houseboat. I failed to warm to any of the characters and the perspective seemed too diffuse for such a short book. Had this been my first taste of King’s work I would likely not have read anything else, because it seems quite ordinary.
May 3, 2022
Vou discordar da moça q indicou e dizer que não é o melhor da lily king não, meu favorito segue sendo euforia. De qualquer forma foi uma boa distração, ele é bom pra quando vc tá afim de viajar e não pode, então nesse sentido foi ótimo pra mim pq é o meu caso kkkkkkkkkk me distrai horrores pela França e Espanha
December 28, 2024
You can really see where King developed from comparing this (her debut) to her later work. While Pleasing Hour lacks some of the oomph and clarity of her other books it definitely still possesses beautiful prose. Rosie, the closest thing to a main character, is underdeveloped and has a tragic backstory that is kinda just there but not meaningfully dived into. I found each of the children and Nicole much more compelling but also felt like none got enough time to give their full impact.
January 25, 2023
oh boy. i just gobble up everything she writes
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