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Five Tuesdays in Winter
By the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers, Lily King's first-ever collection of exceptional and innovative short stories
Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, some even slipping into the surreal, these stories are, above all, about King's enduring subject of love.
Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, some even slipping into the surreal, these stories are, above all, about King's enduring subject of love.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 2, 2021
1748 people are currently reading
36904 people want to read
About the author
Lily King
14 books6,286 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,365 reviews
June 20, 2021
4.5 stars.
I found the same wonderful story telling and characters in this collection of stories by Lily King as I did in the two novels I’ve read by her. The stories are filled with so many emotions - loss, grief, love. There are families separated by divorce, there are young people coming of age, there are adults coming to terms with themselves and with their circumstances, all relatable characters. There were a couple of stories that felt jarring in a way that I wasn’t quite expecting. It’s pretty rare for me to fully connect with every story in a collection, but I came close here, with one or two that left me a little wanting.
I have several favorites. “Five Tuesdays in Winter” is a lovely story of a single father of a teenage girl, who falls in love with an employee at his used book store. Everyone seems to know how to handle his insecurity, except him. Books and love - hard to find a better combination. “Waiting for Charlie” is a moving, needed those tissues kind of story as an elderly man deals with the effects of his granddaughter’s accident as he visits her in the hospital. In “The Man at the Door” Lily King, the writer writing about a writer as she does in one of her novels. My very favorite is “When in the Dordogne”. It’s a wonderful coming of age story about a teenage boy left by his parents who go to France for eight weeks in the care of two college students who are house sitting. He learns a few things from these guys, mostly about what it feels like to be cared about, to have fun, to be told I love you, something he never heard from his parents. A beautiful story of how people can touch your life and change it forever. This is one of those stories I wanted more of, not because it didn’t feel complete; the ending was perfect. I wanted to know more about the boy’s life from his teenage self to his adulthood in the end. Best kind of story when you wish it were a novel. Recommended to fans of Lily King or to others wanting to give her writing a try.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Grove Press through Edelweiss.
I found the same wonderful story telling and characters in this collection of stories by Lily King as I did in the two novels I’ve read by her. The stories are filled with so many emotions - loss, grief, love. There are families separated by divorce, there are young people coming of age, there are adults coming to terms with themselves and with their circumstances, all relatable characters. There were a couple of stories that felt jarring in a way that I wasn’t quite expecting. It’s pretty rare for me to fully connect with every story in a collection, but I came close here, with one or two that left me a little wanting.
I have several favorites. “Five Tuesdays in Winter” is a lovely story of a single father of a teenage girl, who falls in love with an employee at his used book store. Everyone seems to know how to handle his insecurity, except him. Books and love - hard to find a better combination. “Waiting for Charlie” is a moving, needed those tissues kind of story as an elderly man deals with the effects of his granddaughter’s accident as he visits her in the hospital. In “The Man at the Door” Lily King, the writer writing about a writer as she does in one of her novels. My very favorite is “When in the Dordogne”. It’s a wonderful coming of age story about a teenage boy left by his parents who go to France for eight weeks in the care of two college students who are house sitting. He learns a few things from these guys, mostly about what it feels like to be cared about, to have fun, to be told I love you, something he never heard from his parents. A beautiful story of how people can touch your life and change it forever. This is one of those stories I wanted more of, not because it didn’t feel complete; the ending was perfect. I wanted to know more about the boy’s life from his teenage self to his adulthood in the end. Best kind of story when you wish it were a novel. Recommended to fans of Lily King or to others wanting to give her writing a try.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Grove Press through Edelweiss.
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December 24, 2022
‘I am not the liar in this family.’
I’m a huge sucker for short stories. They are bite sized narratives that—when done well—you can savor in your mind long after reading and are reliable little buddies to keep you company in short spurts when you need them most. There is scant space to hide behind and therefore they tend to make every sentence count, standing bold and naked before your critical eye with a proud smile because they know they are well crafted and ready for intellectual romping. Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King is a confidently engaging collection that thrives sentence by sentence, slow pouring stories so full of clever nuance and tone building. Even the weakest of stories, which there are a few, are upheld by pitch perfect writing that makes each brief journey worthwhile while the best of them flex King’s prose and dive for glory. This collection bears the human heart at its most vulnerable across a variety of stories, from jilted spouses to trips down memory lane through youthful summers and the transitionary scenarios, where sudden outpourings of guarded griefs or minor revelations click into place and reveal King to be a writer to remember.
I’ve not read Lily King until this collection and from page one I have been kicking myself for not experiencing her work until now. Her writing is practically a textbook example of what to do and I’ve been utterly stunned by how well she make the small details and subplots of her stories sing in a way that perfectly harmonizes with the narrative melody at hand. Nothing feels out of place and minor asides, such as the narrator currently reading Jane Eyre in the story Creature, are utilized to flesh out the atmosphere and psychological currents of each story in surprising ways that leaves nothing feeling extraneous.
There is such a charming vibe even to the darkest of stories that make it feel like you might be reading a classic collection that would fit alongside reading J.D. Salinger though the two aren’t comparable. Perhaps it is that King sets each story in the past that, admittedly, carries a golden age nostalgia with it. She carefully reminds us that most of these stories are set decades prior, usually through an offhand comment about current events (JFK is referenced in multiple stories). It is likely an extension of King carrying out those literary traditions, which is admittedly a comforting blanket of literary vibes that returns me to hazy college evenings with a book in hand, though one can’t help to notice how particularly white that tradition can be. Which isn’t to say King is doing anything wrong—just an observation perhaps worth considering—and, all in all, it reads with a warm connection to that particular set of mid-20th century literature where the stories are also set and, wonderfully, does so standing on its own merits and not through posturing.
Perhaps for this reason, King truly excels when speaking about memory. ‘I can look back on that time now as if rereading a book I was too young for the first time around,’ she says in When In Dordogne. One of my favorites in the collection, it details a young boy who’s parents have left him and their expensive home under the watch of two college best friends, one of which is going through a painful break-up, and follows their summer escapades helping the narrator connect with his youthful crush. The way the small details shimmer in the brilliant sun of her prose amalgamate to something far greater than the narrative, bathed in sepia tone of recollection that make it all the more empathetic and powerfully endearing. ‘I don’t remember too many nights at that restaurant in Shelburne, Vermont,’ the narrator reflects in Timeline, ‘but I remember that one.’ The framing of fond memories, even amidst dark times, grants a meaningful tone that really unlocks the beauty of these stories told in the framing of memory (which most of them do).
‘Words and feelings were all churned up inside him, finding each other like lost parts of an atom.’
Though most of these stories have a dark undercurrent and are frequently centered around the falling out or otherwise absence of love, this collection resonates overall as a heartwarming book. Stories like Dordogne and especially the title story are really adorable and hopeful, while even bleak stories like Timeline or North Sea have that bittersweet bite that that fills you instead of empties you because these people are processing grief and earnestly trying to make the best of it. Waiting For Charlie is one of the heavier stories, with a grandfather watching over his granddaughter in a hospital and what at first seems like impotent rage against life unwravels into moving reflection and revelation. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a moody, indie romcom film waiting to happen with a cusp-of-adolescence daughter playing subtle matchmaker between her bookstore owner father, who is best summed up by his ex-wife’s complaint that ‘the most emotion he'd ever shown her had been during a heated debate about her use of a comma in a note she'd left him about grocery shopping,’ and his, hip 30something employee going through turbulent times. There is a real heart and occasional playfulness to this collection that makes it difficult to put down.
All that isn’t to say King doesn’t gut you a few times, but she is better equipped to uplift. While the tense and disturbing end to Creatures works despite how uncomfortable it is, Hotel Seattle is an offputing miss that, in it’s attempts to show solidarity with gay men, overshoots into an inelegant and violent conclusion. Several endings tend to rock the boat of awe here, and while the saccharine and tidy conclusion to Dordogne is still delightful for the dose of pure happiness, stories like Timeline can’t tie being simultaneously chaotic and overly convenient into a singular bow. Though the final story, The Man at the Door quite literally parries this criticism in the best of ways and reminds me that it isn’t actually a problem and that I’m enjoying the ride. The story is a dark comedy of surreal anxiety where a writer is confronted by the most irritating stereotypes of literary criticism snobbery and serves as a sharp condemnation of the ways women in literature are silenced under a flimsy guise of ‘I’m just trying to give unsolicited advice because I understand this more than you and want to help.’ It’s an outlier in the collection but so incredibly fun, with a very metafictional ending that is darkly joyous similar to when David Mitchell’s badboy author character in Cloud Atlas throws a critic who panned him to over a balcony, echoing his most cutting criticism to him as he falls to his death: ‘now that’s an ending flat and innate beyond belief.’
Lily King is set to impress with Five Tuesdays in Winter. I devoured this collection, spending my time in between readings still caught in their gravity. Her writing is so pristine and confident, with narratives willing to take risks and go for big moments, which overall feel earned and glow on the podium of successful insight. It wades into filler territory a bit, and a few just don't quite land, but ultimately this was an enjoyable time. I will certainly be checking out her previous books after this, and think Five Tuesdays in Winter would make a perfect companion for couch blanket days in winter.
3.75/5
‘Soon Paula would begin to complain that he didn’t understand her, didn’t appreciate her, didn’t love her enough, when in fact he loved her so much his heart often felt shredded by it. But people always wanted words for all that roiled inside you.’
I’m a huge sucker for short stories. They are bite sized narratives that—when done well—you can savor in your mind long after reading and are reliable little buddies to keep you company in short spurts when you need them most. There is scant space to hide behind and therefore they tend to make every sentence count, standing bold and naked before your critical eye with a proud smile because they know they are well crafted and ready for intellectual romping. Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King is a confidently engaging collection that thrives sentence by sentence, slow pouring stories so full of clever nuance and tone building. Even the weakest of stories, which there are a few, are upheld by pitch perfect writing that makes each brief journey worthwhile while the best of them flex King’s prose and dive for glory. This collection bears the human heart at its most vulnerable across a variety of stories, from jilted spouses to trips down memory lane through youthful summers and the transitionary scenarios, where sudden outpourings of guarded griefs or minor revelations click into place and reveal King to be a writer to remember.
I’ve not read Lily King until this collection and from page one I have been kicking myself for not experiencing her work until now. Her writing is practically a textbook example of what to do and I’ve been utterly stunned by how well she make the small details and subplots of her stories sing in a way that perfectly harmonizes with the narrative melody at hand. Nothing feels out of place and minor asides, such as the narrator currently reading Jane Eyre in the story Creature, are utilized to flesh out the atmosphere and psychological currents of each story in surprising ways that leaves nothing feeling extraneous.
There is such a charming vibe even to the darkest of stories that make it feel like you might be reading a classic collection that would fit alongside reading J.D. Salinger though the two aren’t comparable. Perhaps it is that King sets each story in the past that, admittedly, carries a golden age nostalgia with it. She carefully reminds us that most of these stories are set decades prior, usually through an offhand comment about current events (JFK is referenced in multiple stories). It is likely an extension of King carrying out those literary traditions, which is admittedly a comforting blanket of literary vibes that returns me to hazy college evenings with a book in hand, though one can’t help to notice how particularly white that tradition can be. Which isn’t to say King is doing anything wrong—just an observation perhaps worth considering—and, all in all, it reads with a warm connection to that particular set of mid-20th century literature where the stories are also set and, wonderfully, does so standing on its own merits and not through posturing.
Perhaps for this reason, King truly excels when speaking about memory. ‘I can look back on that time now as if rereading a book I was too young for the first time around,’ she says in When In Dordogne. One of my favorites in the collection, it details a young boy who’s parents have left him and their expensive home under the watch of two college best friends, one of which is going through a painful break-up, and follows their summer escapades helping the narrator connect with his youthful crush. The way the small details shimmer in the brilliant sun of her prose amalgamate to something far greater than the narrative, bathed in sepia tone of recollection that make it all the more empathetic and powerfully endearing. ‘I don’t remember too many nights at that restaurant in Shelburne, Vermont,’ the narrator reflects in Timeline, ‘but I remember that one.’ The framing of fond memories, even amidst dark times, grants a meaningful tone that really unlocks the beauty of these stories told in the framing of memory (which most of them do).
‘Words and feelings were all churned up inside him, finding each other like lost parts of an atom.’
Though most of these stories have a dark undercurrent and are frequently centered around the falling out or otherwise absence of love, this collection resonates overall as a heartwarming book. Stories like Dordogne and especially the title story are really adorable and hopeful, while even bleak stories like Timeline or North Sea have that bittersweet bite that that fills you instead of empties you because these people are processing grief and earnestly trying to make the best of it. Waiting For Charlie is one of the heavier stories, with a grandfather watching over his granddaughter in a hospital and what at first seems like impotent rage against life unwravels into moving reflection and revelation. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a moody, indie romcom film waiting to happen with a cusp-of-adolescence daughter playing subtle matchmaker between her bookstore owner father, who is best summed up by his ex-wife’s complaint that ‘the most emotion he'd ever shown her had been during a heated debate about her use of a comma in a note she'd left him about grocery shopping,’ and his, hip 30something employee going through turbulent times. There is a real heart and occasional playfulness to this collection that makes it difficult to put down.
All that isn’t to say King doesn’t gut you a few times, but she is better equipped to uplift. While the tense and disturbing end to Creatures works despite how uncomfortable it is, Hotel Seattle is an offputing miss that, in it’s attempts to show solidarity with gay men, overshoots into an inelegant and violent conclusion. Several endings tend to rock the boat of awe here, and while the saccharine and tidy conclusion to Dordogne is still delightful for the dose of pure happiness, stories like Timeline can’t tie being simultaneously chaotic and overly convenient into a singular bow. Though the final story, The Man at the Door quite literally parries this criticism in the best of ways and reminds me that it isn’t actually a problem and that I’m enjoying the ride. The story is a dark comedy of surreal anxiety where a writer is confronted by the most irritating stereotypes of literary criticism snobbery and serves as a sharp condemnation of the ways women in literature are silenced under a flimsy guise of ‘I’m just trying to give unsolicited advice because I understand this more than you and want to help.’ It’s an outlier in the collection but so incredibly fun, with a very metafictional ending that is darkly joyous similar to when David Mitchell’s badboy author character in Cloud Atlas throws a critic who panned him to over a balcony, echoing his most cutting criticism to him as he falls to his death: ‘now that’s an ending flat and innate beyond belief.’
Lily King is set to impress with Five Tuesdays in Winter. I devoured this collection, spending my time in between readings still caught in their gravity. Her writing is so pristine and confident, with narratives willing to take risks and go for big moments, which overall feel earned and glow on the podium of successful insight. It wades into filler territory a bit, and a few just don't quite land, but ultimately this was an enjoyable time. I will certainly be checking out her previous books after this, and think Five Tuesdays in Winter would make a perfect companion for couch blanket days in winter.
3.75/5
‘Soon Paula would begin to complain that he didn’t understand her, didn’t appreciate her, didn’t love her enough, when in fact he loved her so much his heart often felt shredded by it. But people always wanted words for all that roiled inside you.’
November 20, 2021
This superb collection of 10 powerful, memorable and profound short stories introduced me to the talented writer that is Lily King, writing beautifully about the everyday and ordinary intimate personal relationships. She probes the nature of what it is to be human, providing psychological insights into the human heart and soul in her exploration of love, loss, the family, motherhood, friendships, betrayal, the broken, brutal, the discomfiting, disturbing, the haunting, the painful and the heartbreaking. A bookseller with a lifetime of losses has feelings for his assistant, older parents have a relationship with their son that is devoid of love, a son that finds the world and love opening up with house sitters, and a young babysitter develops feelings for a problematic older man.
A 91 year old grandfather is at the bedside of his seriously injured granddaughter in a coma, a father that has been absent from the life of his daughter returns, there is the fallout from a failed marriage and a strange man's judgements of a writer. King writes with incisiveness, tenderness and with a real gift when it comes to dialogue, there are a wide range of characters across the age ranges. This emotionally gripping collection is captivating, highlighting the chaotic messiness of love in all its forms, the complications, the surprising, the unexpected, and the joy. There was a time in the past when my experience of short story collections was that they turned out to be a mixed bag that evoked liking, dislike, and indifference. In more recent times I have been astounded at how good an entire short story collection can be.
Lily King's stories are in that vein of being wonderful across the board, they are exceptional, with compelling prose, and not to be missed for those of you familiar with her work and for those who have yet to discover her. Amongst my favourites were Creature, Five Tuesdays in Winter, When in the Dordogne, Hotel Seattle and Waiting for Charlie. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
A 91 year old grandfather is at the bedside of his seriously injured granddaughter in a coma, a father that has been absent from the life of his daughter returns, there is the fallout from a failed marriage and a strange man's judgements of a writer. King writes with incisiveness, tenderness and with a real gift when it comes to dialogue, there are a wide range of characters across the age ranges. This emotionally gripping collection is captivating, highlighting the chaotic messiness of love in all its forms, the complications, the surprising, the unexpected, and the joy. There was a time in the past when my experience of short story collections was that they turned out to be a mixed bag that evoked liking, dislike, and indifference. In more recent times I have been astounded at how good an entire short story collection can be.
Lily King's stories are in that vein of being wonderful across the board, they are exceptional, with compelling prose, and not to be missed for those of you familiar with her work and for those who have yet to discover her. Amongst my favourites were Creature, Five Tuesdays in Winter, When in the Dordogne, Hotel Seattle and Waiting for Charlie. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
May 22, 2023
the best feeling is seeing a book, immediately wanting to read it, and picking it up right away.
mini reviews for each story, as i always do when i have the will to live / presence of mind / divine inspiration!
STORY 1: CREATURE
usually when i read short story collections, if i have the presence of mind, i write mini-reviews for each story (both to prevent myself from forgetting each and every one of them and to save time and promote laziness for future me, one of my top 5 favorite people).
i finished this story, looked at the cursor blinking below this subheading for a minute, and gave up on all of it. i don't know how to engage with this, really.
hell of a start.
rating: 4.5
STORY 2: FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER
title story title story title story!!!
seems like it might be a BOOKSTORE title story about profoundly sad characters that ends happily but in a literary way...what more could a girl ask for.
i love to be right.
rating: 5
STORY 3: WHEN THE DORDOGNE
has anything ever encapsulated the feeling of being absolutely enamored with older kids when you're young so well?
i don't want to jinx anything but thus far this is a masterclass in Things I Like, Writing-Wise.
rating: 5
STORY 4: NORTH SEA
unfair to this story that i was also reading another and much better exploration of the trials and tribulations of motherhood at the same time.
rating: 3.5
STORY 5: TIMELINE
the story of someone who used to be a waitress at a fancy restaurant in cambridge, mass...fine i'm reading this as a sequel to writers and lovers.
unfortunately it was much sillier and much shorter.
rating: 3.5
STORY 6: HOTEL SEATTLE
good lord, does lily king know how to render the best and the worst.
rating: 4
STORY 7: WAITING FOR CHARLIE
see above.
rating: 4
STORY 8: MANSARD
it is wild to pick up a collection of short stories by an author who has written one book you definitely liked and one book you really didn't and come away from it convinced they can do no wrong anyway.
rating: 4
STORY 9: SOUTH
mothers and daughters mothers and daughters mothers and daughters.
i am haunted by stories of mothers and daughters lately. i'm not sick of them yet... but i fear we may be getting there.
rating: 3.5
STORY 10: THE MAN AT THE DOOR
grand finale!
well why did we have to end on silly magical realism...when everything was going so nicely...otherwise see above.
rating: 3
OVERALL
a set of ten lovely stories about what you hope for in life and how you rarely get it, at least not in the way you expect. each one of these is like looking into the warmly lit windows as you walk through a neighborhood on a very dark night — each strikes with a kind of melancholy, but sometimes it's quite sweet-feeling.
rating: 4
mini reviews for each story, as i always do when i have the will to live / presence of mind / divine inspiration!
STORY 1: CREATURE
usually when i read short story collections, if i have the presence of mind, i write mini-reviews for each story (both to prevent myself from forgetting each and every one of them and to save time and promote laziness for future me, one of my top 5 favorite people).
i finished this story, looked at the cursor blinking below this subheading for a minute, and gave up on all of it. i don't know how to engage with this, really.
hell of a start.
rating: 4.5
STORY 2: FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER
title story title story title story!!!
seems like it might be a BOOKSTORE title story about profoundly sad characters that ends happily but in a literary way...what more could a girl ask for.
i love to be right.
rating: 5
STORY 3: WHEN THE DORDOGNE
has anything ever encapsulated the feeling of being absolutely enamored with older kids when you're young so well?
i don't want to jinx anything but thus far this is a masterclass in Things I Like, Writing-Wise.
rating: 5
STORY 4: NORTH SEA
unfair to this story that i was also reading another and much better exploration of the trials and tribulations of motherhood at the same time.
rating: 3.5
STORY 5: TIMELINE
the story of someone who used to be a waitress at a fancy restaurant in cambridge, mass...fine i'm reading this as a sequel to writers and lovers.
unfortunately it was much sillier and much shorter.
rating: 3.5
STORY 6: HOTEL SEATTLE
good lord, does lily king know how to render the best and the worst.
rating: 4
STORY 7: WAITING FOR CHARLIE
see above.
rating: 4
STORY 8: MANSARD
it is wild to pick up a collection of short stories by an author who has written one book you definitely liked and one book you really didn't and come away from it convinced they can do no wrong anyway.
rating: 4
STORY 9: SOUTH
mothers and daughters mothers and daughters mothers and daughters.
i am haunted by stories of mothers and daughters lately. i'm not sick of them yet... but i fear we may be getting there.
rating: 3.5
STORY 10: THE MAN AT THE DOOR
grand finale!
well why did we have to end on silly magical realism...when everything was going so nicely...otherwise see above.
rating: 3
OVERALL
a set of ten lovely stories about what you hope for in life and how you rarely get it, at least not in the way you expect. each one of these is like looking into the warmly lit windows as you walk through a neighborhood on a very dark night — each strikes with a kind of melancholy, but sometimes it's quite sweet-feeling.
rating: 4
May 8, 2021
These stories introduce us to characters reacting to the chaos and consequences of their every day lives. Some are unsettling and others are exhilarating.
In “Creature” a fourteen year old girl took a babysitting job— a live-in summer job for two weeks.
The house was huge - a mansion with a beach nearby.
We meet the grandparents who hired Carol who wanted to give their daughter, Kay, a caretaking break ( to go to lunch with friends, get a manicure, a massage...adult time)....
Instead Kay ‘liked’ being with her kids ( Stevie and Elsie)....
So Kay and the babysitter, (Carol), took the kids to the beach ‘together’.
All was going well until uncle Hugh arrived.
A slow tension builds....Carol was the character who stood to suffer consequences the most....
a reminder of how innocent young girls tend to keep quiet and blame themselves at times they most need to speak up.
There are nine other short stories. All are exceptionally well written. I didn’t want to stop reading any of them.
In the title story, “Five Tuesdays in Winter”, Mitchell, a bookseller, (whose wife had left him), could find many things to criticize the employee he recently hired.
He was secretly falling for her. Kissing desires were huge.
Kate had recently moved to Portland from San Francisco to be with a guy name Lincoln.
It’s a wonderful - story - Kate ends up tutoring Mitchell’s daughter, Paula.....’Spanish on Tuesday Nights’.
Great story....with lots of grinning going on for the reader.
An excerpt I adored was:
“To the store, Kate wore faded untucked shirts and jeans slashed at the knee. He was often tempted to tease her, tell her that just because she sold used books she didn’t have to wear used clothes, but he thought she might snap back with a crack about the pittance he paid for her, so he refrained”.
Warning.... haha....the reader might get a craving for mushroom soup, lasagna, and chocolate. 🍫
Great stories — great voices of the characters - messy relationships, sharp humor, psychological acuity.....
Intimate storytelling with themes of love, desires, heartbreak, loss, brutality, daunting human struggles.... and a powerful look at the human heart ....written by the very skillful Lily King who knows how to craft a story brilliantly.
Thank you Netgalley, Grove Atlantic, and Lily King
In “Creature” a fourteen year old girl took a babysitting job— a live-in summer job for two weeks.
The house was huge - a mansion with a beach nearby.
We meet the grandparents who hired Carol who wanted to give their daughter, Kay, a caretaking break ( to go to lunch with friends, get a manicure, a massage...adult time)....
Instead Kay ‘liked’ being with her kids ( Stevie and Elsie)....
So Kay and the babysitter, (Carol), took the kids to the beach ‘together’.
All was going well until uncle Hugh arrived.
A slow tension builds....Carol was the character who stood to suffer consequences the most....
a reminder of how innocent young girls tend to keep quiet and blame themselves at times they most need to speak up.
There are nine other short stories. All are exceptionally well written. I didn’t want to stop reading any of them.
In the title story, “Five Tuesdays in Winter”, Mitchell, a bookseller, (whose wife had left him), could find many things to criticize the employee he recently hired.
He was secretly falling for her. Kissing desires were huge.
Kate had recently moved to Portland from San Francisco to be with a guy name Lincoln.
It’s a wonderful - story - Kate ends up tutoring Mitchell’s daughter, Paula.....’Spanish on Tuesday Nights’.
Great story....with lots of grinning going on for the reader.
An excerpt I adored was:
“To the store, Kate wore faded untucked shirts and jeans slashed at the knee. He was often tempted to tease her, tell her that just because she sold used books she didn’t have to wear used clothes, but he thought she might snap back with a crack about the pittance he paid for her, so he refrained”.
Warning.... haha....the reader might get a craving for mushroom soup, lasagna, and chocolate. 🍫
Great stories — great voices of the characters - messy relationships, sharp humor, psychological acuity.....
Intimate storytelling with themes of love, desires, heartbreak, loss, brutality, daunting human struggles.... and a powerful look at the human heart ....written by the very skillful Lily King who knows how to craft a story brilliantly.
Thank you Netgalley, Grove Atlantic, and Lily King
June 17, 2025
Five Tuesdays in Winter is a collection of short pieces that cover a wide range of life stages, including love and loss, as well as the potency of stories to reach us in such a memorable way.
Truth to be told, this book is not really my favourite. I found it a bit challenging to finish it since the author went to a great length in conveying each character's daily interminable dread. It took a lot of mental capacity to comprehend everyone's stories. Not to mention, despite the tenderness, these anthologies are also dark, complex and fraught with drama.
Each of the story also came to a sudden finish with an open ending that often had little to do with the premise; it's bewildering. The author writes her book evocatively, yet is unengaging. However, the pleasant resolution to each of it is probably why I rated the book higher than intended.
All in all, I still didn't see how the stories in this book would relevant to this time but if you love literary fiction or short stories, I believe this book would be for you!
Truth to be told, this book is not really my favourite. I found it a bit challenging to finish it since the author went to a great length in conveying each character's daily interminable dread. It took a lot of mental capacity to comprehend everyone's stories. Not to mention, despite the tenderness, these anthologies are also dark, complex and fraught with drama.
Each of the story also came to a sudden finish with an open ending that often had little to do with the premise; it's bewildering. The author writes her book evocatively, yet is unengaging. However, the pleasant resolution to each of it is probably why I rated the book higher than intended.
All in all, I still didn't see how the stories in this book would relevant to this time but if you love literary fiction or short stories, I believe this book would be for you!
November 18, 2021
EXCERPT: Taken from the title story, Five Tuesdays in Winter -
Mitchell's daughter, who was twelve, accused him of loving his books but hating his customers. He didn't hate them. He just didn't like having to chat with them or lead them to very clearly marked sections - if they couldn't read signs, why were they buying books? - while they complained that nothing was arranged by title. He would have liked to have a bouncer at the door, a man with a rippled neck who would turn people away or quietly remove them when they revealed too much ignorance.
ABOUT 'FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER': Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, some even slipping into the surreal, these stories are, above all, about King's enduring subject of love.
MY THOUGHTS: Every now and then I come across an author who can take the every day, the mundane, and transform it into something beautiful. Lily King is one such author. Her stories, all but one, enchanted me.
The emotions of her characters, their reactions to the situations in which they find themselves, is refreshingly real: from the sulky teenage daughter of recently separated parents to the bookseller who finally recognizes the feelings he has for his assistant, these are people we could know or who could live in our town.
My absolute favourite from this collection is Waiting for Charlie, the story of a grandfather sitting at the bedside of his gravely injured granddaughter, closely followed by Five Tuesdays in Winter, Hotel Seattle, and Mansard. The only story I disliked was The Man at the Door.
1. Creature ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Five Tuesdays in Winter ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
3. When in the Dordogne ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. North Sea ⭐⭐⭐.5
5. Timeline ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Hotel Seattle ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
7. Waiting for Charlie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Mansard ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
9. South ⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. The Man at the Door ⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
#FiveTuesdaysinWinter #NetGalley
I: @lilybooks @groveatlantic
T: @lilykingbooks @GroveAtlantic
#contemporaryfiction #crime #domesticdrama #familydrama #historicalfiction #romance #shortstories #sliceoflife
THE AUTHOR: Lily King grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. After grad school she took a job as a high school English teacher in Valencia, Spain and began writing her first novel. Eight years, ten more moves all over the US, and many bookstore, restaurant and teaching jobs later, that novel was published.
In 1995 she met a guy named Tyler at her friend Bernardine’s house in Belmont, Mass. They married in 1998. They have two daughters and two dogs and live in Portland, Maine.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Mitchell's daughter, who was twelve, accused him of loving his books but hating his customers. He didn't hate them. He just didn't like having to chat with them or lead them to very clearly marked sections - if they couldn't read signs, why were they buying books? - while they complained that nothing was arranged by title. He would have liked to have a bouncer at the door, a man with a rippled neck who would turn people away or quietly remove them when they revealed too much ignorance.
ABOUT 'FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER': Told in the intimate voices of unique and endearing characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. Romantic, hopeful, brutally raw, and unsparingly honest, some even slipping into the surreal, these stories are, above all, about King's enduring subject of love.
MY THOUGHTS: Every now and then I come across an author who can take the every day, the mundane, and transform it into something beautiful. Lily King is one such author. Her stories, all but one, enchanted me.
The emotions of her characters, their reactions to the situations in which they find themselves, is refreshingly real: from the sulky teenage daughter of recently separated parents to the bookseller who finally recognizes the feelings he has for his assistant, these are people we could know or who could live in our town.
My absolute favourite from this collection is Waiting for Charlie, the story of a grandfather sitting at the bedside of his gravely injured granddaughter, closely followed by Five Tuesdays in Winter, Hotel Seattle, and Mansard. The only story I disliked was The Man at the Door.
1. Creature ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Five Tuesdays in Winter ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
3. When in the Dordogne ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. North Sea ⭐⭐⭐.5
5. Timeline ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Hotel Seattle ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
7. Waiting for Charlie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Mansard ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
9. South ⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. The Man at the Door ⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
#FiveTuesdaysinWinter #NetGalley
I: @lilybooks @groveatlantic
T: @lilykingbooks @GroveAtlantic
#contemporaryfiction #crime #domesticdrama #familydrama #historicalfiction #romance #shortstories #sliceoflife
THE AUTHOR: Lily King grew up in Massachusetts and received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.A. in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. After grad school she took a job as a high school English teacher in Valencia, Spain and began writing her first novel. Eight years, ten more moves all over the US, and many bookstore, restaurant and teaching jobs later, that novel was published.
In 1995 she met a guy named Tyler at her friend Bernardine’s house in Belmont, Mass. They married in 1998. They have two daughters and two dogs and live in Portland, Maine.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com
This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
July 20, 2021
4.5 Stars
’On the way to Vermont I thought about words and how, if you put a few of them in the right order, a three-minute story about a girl and her dog can get people to forget all the ways you’ve disappointed them.’ - from Timeline
This is the first book of Lily King’s that I’ve read, a collection of ten short stories that share the journey of life and living through themes of love and loss, heartache, the issues we wrestle with in our lives, seemingly insurmountable problems, family, along with the common daily ins and outs of life.
I enjoyed all of these stories, but a few pulled me in from the start and will undoubtedly stay with me.
’Five Days in Winter’ was one of the stories that pulled me in from the start - a man, Mitchell, who owns a bookstore, but can’t abide the ignorance of his customers, although his daughter loved them. He’s completely smitten by a young woman he works for him, but can’t manage to bring himself to let her know. He’s lost so many in his life, his wife who left him, his mother who died when he was very young, his father when he was a teenager, his friends, and some of his favourite customers.
’Waiting for Charlie’ was the story that really moved me. A man in his 90’s, a grandfather visiting his granddaughter, Charlotte, in the hospital following an accident that has left her unresponsive following an accident, and his struggle to try and reach her, pull her back into the land of the conscious. ’They were both adrift from their bodies. And without the body, what are we?’ A story that serves as a reminder of how fragile life can be.
’When in the Dordogne’ shares the story of a teenager, whose parents leave him behind when they take a two-month long vacation the summer before he begins high school. He was the fourth born to them, long after his older siblings, and so he viewed himself as ’an inconvenience, to which they seem to agree, if silently. He’s left in the care of two young men, Ed and Grant, who offer him a new view, of the world, life, love, and the difference love makes.
These stories share multiple stages of life, love and grief, and the power of stories to touch us in such a memorably moving way. So many beautiful, stirring passages with such lovely imagery.
’She held herself straight, upright, but inside she was bent with grief...Something about her movements...the way she walked around the garden, touching petals and branches, as if she could rid some of her sadness on them.’ - from South
A lovely introduction to Lily King for me, which makes me happy that I have yet another author’s work to look forward to in the future.
Many thanks to Angela, who pointed the way through her lovely review which can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pub Date: 09 Nov 2021
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Grove Atlantic / Grove Press
January 25, 2022
4.5, absolutely rounding up!
Okay, Lily King has officially won my heart!
I was a goner when I read her Euphoria, I liked her Writers & Lovers a lot, and I adored this collection of short stories. I mean, nothing compares to Euphoria, but this book made me smile and sigh, and I couldn’t wait to stick my nose in my Kindle every night.
I love King’s language, her tone, her insight, and her plot-picking. She writes about relationships and creates some compelling, complex characters. I always admire it when a writer can create beefy characters in such a short story. The characters’ loving, yearning, aching, confusion—their mere existence, in fact—got under my skin. Quite a few of the stories are about teens who have something big happen to them, but this is definitely not a YA book, so get that thought right out of your head. The characters are familiar and mostly ordinary, but King paints them in a way that makes their lives exciting and fascinating. She peeks into their souls.
I liked all ten stories, some more than others, of course. “Waiting for Charlie,” about a man visiting his comatose granddaughter, stole my heart. Another favorite is “Hotel Seattle,” about a gay college kid who has a secret crush on his straight roommate and later gets to catch up with him. I just realized I could keep naming favorites; god, talk about poignant! All of them! They made me pause and think. One story, “Mansard,” sent me to Google to find out what a mansard roof is. I got lost in the pictures! I always love it when a story teaches me a little thing or two.
I thought “South,” which takes place in a car, and stars a mom and her two kids, had a little point-of-view problem, and I didn’t know the age of the kids, which I didn’t love—but still, the story was a good one. The one I was least fond of was the title story, “Five Tuesdays in Winter.” It was about a curmudgeonly man who owns a bookstore and has a crush on a younger woman. I’m sorry, but the subject matter has been done a million times (grumpy old man chasing after a sweet young thing) and I hate the whole idea of it. Sure, King has the tone and the language to make it interesting, and hell, it’s set in a bookstore, which is such a draw—but nah, not for me.
The last story, “The Man at the Door,” is magical realism, which was a shock after getting nothing but regular realism from King. I actually liked it—quite a bit, in fact. I don’t want to describe the plot. I’ll only say it’s about a frustrated writer-mother. It was very clever.
I’m waiting in line for King’s next book. No doubt it will be another gem.
Thanks to NetGalley and Edelweiss for a copy of this book.
Okay, Lily King has officially won my heart!
I was a goner when I read her Euphoria, I liked her Writers & Lovers a lot, and I adored this collection of short stories. I mean, nothing compares to Euphoria, but this book made me smile and sigh, and I couldn’t wait to stick my nose in my Kindle every night.
I love King’s language, her tone, her insight, and her plot-picking. She writes about relationships and creates some compelling, complex characters. I always admire it when a writer can create beefy characters in such a short story. The characters’ loving, yearning, aching, confusion—their mere existence, in fact—got under my skin. Quite a few of the stories are about teens who have something big happen to them, but this is definitely not a YA book, so get that thought right out of your head. The characters are familiar and mostly ordinary, but King paints them in a way that makes their lives exciting and fascinating. She peeks into their souls.
I liked all ten stories, some more than others, of course. “Waiting for Charlie,” about a man visiting his comatose granddaughter, stole my heart. Another favorite is “Hotel Seattle,” about a gay college kid who has a secret crush on his straight roommate and later gets to catch up with him. I just realized I could keep naming favorites; god, talk about poignant! All of them! They made me pause and think. One story, “Mansard,” sent me to Google to find out what a mansard roof is. I got lost in the pictures! I always love it when a story teaches me a little thing or two.
I thought “South,” which takes place in a car, and stars a mom and her two kids, had a little point-of-view problem, and I didn’t know the age of the kids, which I didn’t love—but still, the story was a good one. The one I was least fond of was the title story, “Five Tuesdays in Winter.” It was about a curmudgeonly man who owns a bookstore and has a crush on a younger woman. I’m sorry, but the subject matter has been done a million times (grumpy old man chasing after a sweet young thing) and I hate the whole idea of it. Sure, King has the tone and the language to make it interesting, and hell, it’s set in a bookstore, which is such a draw—but nah, not for me.
The last story, “The Man at the Door,” is magical realism, which was a shock after getting nothing but regular realism from King. I actually liked it—quite a bit, in fact. I don’t want to describe the plot. I’ll only say it’s about a frustrated writer-mother. It was very clever.
I’m waiting in line for King’s next book. No doubt it will be another gem.
Thanks to NetGalley and Edelweiss for a copy of this book.
August 20, 2021
I don’t read too many anthologies—the stories are generally too short for me. However, this collection of shorts by Lily King caught my eye. Not only does it have many glowing reviews, but its main thrust is basically love, all types of love, and the consequences of love.
There are 10 stories in this collection. I liked most of them to varying degrees. The first (Creature) and the last (The Man at the Door) stories were my least favorite. I could not connect with the characters in Creature, which unfortunately for me is by far the longest of the stories. The Man at the Door is a fantasy (not my favorite genre), and I also disliked the characters. To me, the best were Seattle Hotel, When in the Dordogne, and Five Tuesdays in Winter. Seattle Hotel is a profound portrayal of the messiness of love. I had chills run up my spine when I reached the end of Dordogne, a tale about life lessons conveyed from two college-aged house sitters to a sheltered 14-year-old boy. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a poignant tale of unspoken love. Waiting for Charlie and North Sea touched me as well. Others seemed to end with a jolt. A couple just left me scratching my head, especially The Man at the Door. I wished my three favorites had been longer—I wasn’t ready to leave those characters.
I enjoyed this collection of short stories and am now interested in reading Ms. King’s novels. This author writes beautifully, but not the type of beautifully that slows the pace. She a master at writing dialogue. She knows how to touch the heart. More importantly, she inspires one to ponder. I love when I find myself so affected by a book that I am moved to reflect upon the themes. I highly recommend this anthology to all short story lovers.
Thank you Net Galley, Grove Press, and Ms. Lily King for an ARC of this anthology. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
There are 10 stories in this collection. I liked most of them to varying degrees. The first (Creature) and the last (The Man at the Door) stories were my least favorite. I could not connect with the characters in Creature, which unfortunately for me is by far the longest of the stories. The Man at the Door is a fantasy (not my favorite genre), and I also disliked the characters. To me, the best were Seattle Hotel, When in the Dordogne, and Five Tuesdays in Winter. Seattle Hotel is a profound portrayal of the messiness of love. I had chills run up my spine when I reached the end of Dordogne, a tale about life lessons conveyed from two college-aged house sitters to a sheltered 14-year-old boy. Five Tuesdays in Winter is a poignant tale of unspoken love. Waiting for Charlie and North Sea touched me as well. Others seemed to end with a jolt. A couple just left me scratching my head, especially The Man at the Door. I wished my three favorites had been longer—I wasn’t ready to leave those characters.
I enjoyed this collection of short stories and am now interested in reading Ms. King’s novels. This author writes beautifully, but not the type of beautifully that slows the pace. She a master at writing dialogue. She knows how to touch the heart. More importantly, she inspires one to ponder. I love when I find myself so affected by a book that I am moved to reflect upon the themes. I highly recommend this anthology to all short story lovers.
Thank you Net Galley, Grove Press, and Ms. Lily King for an ARC of this anthology. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
March 13, 2022
I love how this author writes about writing. And reading. There is a certain intimacy that these stories carry with them. Some are quietly unsettling, others that will make you smile. You will find a bookstore owner who considers hiring a bouncer to oust would-be patrons who exhibit "too much ignorance". A young girl who has a musical ear for language and accents. A house with no books - the horror! How the sense of smell brings memories to the fore, and how memories and recollections are apt to take on a fictional aspect, changing slightly each time they are recounted. Poignant without a trace of sap, and not a clinker in the bunch.
October 7, 2021
4.5
I really liked all these stories, which is rare for me in a book of short stories.
All ten stories touched my heart in some manner.
Lily King really knows how to capture the thoughts and feelings of her characters!
I’ve read Euphoria… but I will certainly try a few other books of hers now!
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!
I really liked all these stories, which is rare for me in a book of short stories.
All ten stories touched my heart in some manner.
Lily King really knows how to capture the thoughts and feelings of her characters!
I’ve read Euphoria… but I will certainly try a few other books of hers now!
Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!
July 4, 2023
A very well-written collection of short stories. I was amazed by how human the characters felt, how fleshed out they were considering how little page time they got.
There are many sides of humanity—the ugly as well as the beautiful—to be found within these pages.
There are many sides of humanity—the ugly as well as the beautiful—to be found within these pages.
December 2, 2021
4.5★
“Wanting to kiss Kate was like wanting a larger savings account for Paula’s college education or one of those infallible computerized postal scales for mail orders. It was a persistent, irritating, useless desire..”
This is a bookshop owner who has a crush on his employee, and his 12-year-old daughter is keen that they get together, since her mother has walked out. It’s from the title story, which refers to the five Tuesday evenings that Kate comes to their house to tutor the daughter in Spanish. It’s short and touching and satisfying.
I enjoyed all of the stories, some more than others. There is an emphasis on pre-teen or early teen kids and their parents. The frustrations and irritations are evident, but mostly there is love underlying the awkwardness.
In North Sea, Oda has saved up for two years to be able to take her sullen 12-year-old daughter on a short holiday after her husband, Hanne’s father died unexpectedly. She hopes they will talk.
“Oda felt a racing in her body, an urgency that had no reason to exist now. She didn’t have to get up for work or make Hanne’s lunch or get her to her Saturday lessons or to church. She wondered how other people adjusted to vacations. It was such an unpleasant feeling, like gunning a car in neutral.”
It’s grey and chilly in Harlesiel, in northern Germany on the North Sea – interesting for those who want to be there, but not much attraction for a sulky girl. Hanne refuses to look happy even when she is obviously excited by her afternoon outing without her mother.
“Adults hid their pain, their fears, their failure, but adolescents hid their happiness, as if to reveal it would risk its loss.”
They meet a noisy Australian family with lively kids, and suddenly, Hanne is no longer a little kid, but someone who is seen as an authority figure by the real children.
To me, a good short story is a slice of a larger one, with a good sense of what came before and what might come after, yet there must be some completeness in the slice itself. I enjoyed seeing how King's characters are dealing with their pasts and what their thoughts are for their futures. They could turn up in another story, and I think I'd recognise them again.
It's a collection worth collecting.
“Wanting to kiss Kate was like wanting a larger savings account for Paula’s college education or one of those infallible computerized postal scales for mail orders. It was a persistent, irritating, useless desire..”
This is a bookshop owner who has a crush on his employee, and his 12-year-old daughter is keen that they get together, since her mother has walked out. It’s from the title story, which refers to the five Tuesday evenings that Kate comes to their house to tutor the daughter in Spanish. It’s short and touching and satisfying.
I enjoyed all of the stories, some more than others. There is an emphasis on pre-teen or early teen kids and their parents. The frustrations and irritations are evident, but mostly there is love underlying the awkwardness.
In North Sea, Oda has saved up for two years to be able to take her sullen 12-year-old daughter on a short holiday after her husband, Hanne’s father died unexpectedly. She hopes they will talk.
“Oda felt a racing in her body, an urgency that had no reason to exist now. She didn’t have to get up for work or make Hanne’s lunch or get her to her Saturday lessons or to church. She wondered how other people adjusted to vacations. It was such an unpleasant feeling, like gunning a car in neutral.”
It’s grey and chilly in Harlesiel, in northern Germany on the North Sea – interesting for those who want to be there, but not much attraction for a sulky girl. Hanne refuses to look happy even when she is obviously excited by her afternoon outing without her mother.
“Adults hid their pain, their fears, their failure, but adolescents hid their happiness, as if to reveal it would risk its loss.”
They meet a noisy Australian family with lively kids, and suddenly, Hanne is no longer a little kid, but someone who is seen as an authority figure by the real children.
To me, a good short story is a slice of a larger one, with a good sense of what came before and what might come after, yet there must be some completeness in the slice itself. I enjoyed seeing how King's characters are dealing with their pasts and what their thoughts are for their futures. They could turn up in another story, and I think I'd recognise them again.
It's a collection worth collecting.
August 30, 2021
If you build it they will come, or rather if you write it, they will read. In this, her first book of short stories, Lily King, proves the adage. If you enjoy her novels, one will find the same quality of writing within. Though as with most books of shorts, there will be some the reader likes, dislikes, more than others.
Quite a few of the stories feature a young person, where something unexpected will prove to be pivotal in their lives. My favorite though, also the shortest, is, Waiting for Charlie. A you g woman is severely injured in a skiing accident, and her 91 year old grandfather comes to visit in hospital. He is full of hubris, sure he can wake her up though others have failed. He leaves after having an epiphany of his own. There are some things, that no matter how much we want to, that we cannot control. Think this struck me because it has been in the last 18 months with Covid, a lesson we have all learned.
ARC from Edelweiss.
Quite a few of the stories feature a young person, where something unexpected will prove to be pivotal in their lives. My favorite though, also the shortest, is, Waiting for Charlie. A you g woman is severely injured in a skiing accident, and her 91 year old grandfather comes to visit in hospital. He is full of hubris, sure he can wake her up though others have failed. He leaves after having an epiphany of his own. There are some things, that no matter how much we want to, that we cannot control. Think this struck me because it has been in the last 18 months with Covid, a lesson we have all learned.
ARC from Edelweiss.
Read
March 27, 2022Click here to hear my thoughts on Lily King, this book, and all her other books over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
The past lingers like a ghost in award-winning writer Lily King’s new short story collection, “Five Tuesdays in Winter.” It’s the first such collection from the author of the critically acclaimed “Writers & Lovers” and “Euphoria,” yet its 10 stories are as absorbing as any of her novels.
Though there is ample variety in the collection that shows off King’s range, there is a unifying theme throughout: the question of how much characters’ pasts should determine their futures. A couple of early stories have a reflective tone as characters look back upon moments in their teenage years that will later have an impact on their adult lives.
Click here to read the rest of my review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The past lingers like a ghost in award-winning writer Lily King’s new short story collection, “Five Tuesdays in Winter.” It’s the first such collection from the author of the critically acclaimed “Writers & Lovers” and “Euphoria,” yet its 10 stories are as absorbing as any of her novels.
Though there is ample variety in the collection that shows off King’s range, there is a unifying theme throughout: the question of how much characters’ pasts should determine their futures. A couple of early stories have a reflective tone as characters look back upon moments in their teenage years that will later have an impact on their adult lives.
Click here to read the rest of my review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
December 19, 2021
[4.5] These stories are as appealing as the gorgeous cover promises, like a handmade and luscious box of chocolates, each one with a unique and satisfying filling. I resisted gobbling them up, reading them slowly, just one at a time. Amazingly, there were only a couple stories that I didn't absolutely love - a remarkably consistent and powerful collection.
February 7, 2022
I enjoyed Five Tuesdays in Winter, a short story collection by Lily King. For the most part, these stories piqued my interest early on and there were several I would have gladly read longer pieces about. For me, wanting more is a sign of good a short story.
My favorite two stories in this collection were “When in the Dordogne”, which is about an adolescent boy left with two college guys, entrusted to look after him and the family’s home for part of a summer, and the title one, “Five Tuesdays in Winter”, where a single dad falls for one of his bookstore employees.
I was enjoying one story up until the very end, then liked it significantly less as I read the final outcome, wondering what was wrong with a character to act in such a cruel manner. And another story was a complete miss for me, I just didn’t get it and can’t say I enjoyed it.
Overall though, Five Tuesdays in Winter is a solid collection, with mostly modern stories to draw you in and hold interest.
My favorite two stories in this collection were “When in the Dordogne”, which is about an adolescent boy left with two college guys, entrusted to look after him and the family’s home for part of a summer, and the title one, “Five Tuesdays in Winter”, where a single dad falls for one of his bookstore employees.
I was enjoying one story up until the very end, then liked it significantly less as I read the final outcome, wondering what was wrong with a character to act in such a cruel manner. And another story was a complete miss for me, I just didn’t get it and can’t say I enjoyed it.
Overall though, Five Tuesdays in Winter is a solid collection, with mostly modern stories to draw you in and hold interest.
August 1, 2023
A rich, powerful collection of stories that beautifully display all the messy, complicated parts of being human. Each story is so compelling, genuine, multifaceted, and relatable. The good, bad, and ugly of parenthood, friendship, love, desire, grief, and writing are laid bare, in their full imperfect glory. A remarkable example of the power of short stories.
February 25, 2022
Lily King lays it down once again, this magical ability to surround the reader with gorgeous prose that feels effortless, characters that can bring us to tears of recognition and longing in mere pages, and a mapping of the human heart that is stunningly precise.
The opening salvo, Creature, is short story-telling perfection. In once sentence, a sweet coming of age story shifts into a nightmare. It remains my favorite story in the collection, in content and style.
The reluctant and tender love featured in the title track, Five Tuesday in Winter is a graceful reminder that the quietest of stories often bring the deepest resonance. It's an "I'm not crying, you're crying," exhale.
When in the Dordogne leaves a lonely boy in the care of two college students while his parents spend the summer in France. His caretakers aren't all that concerned about the rules of the wealthy enclave where the boy lives, but instead of chaos, their free spirits engender love.
The final story, The Man at the Door, is eerie and surreal - an arrow lanced at anyone who has discouraged another's dreams and attempts at a creative life. Beware the power of a woman's fury, unleashed.
The stories are about characters on the cusp of change and King renders their transformations with breathtaking twists that feel inevitable. There are no theatrics here, just perfectly sketched characters living through moments we all recognize - the awkward, bumbling minutiae that becomes crystalline with significance when we look back and realize what we've become. Lily King renders the human condition with crackling detail and astonishing insight.
The opening salvo, Creature, is short story-telling perfection. In once sentence, a sweet coming of age story shifts into a nightmare. It remains my favorite story in the collection, in content and style.
The reluctant and tender love featured in the title track, Five Tuesday in Winter is a graceful reminder that the quietest of stories often bring the deepest resonance. It's an "I'm not crying, you're crying," exhale.
When in the Dordogne leaves a lonely boy in the care of two college students while his parents spend the summer in France. His caretakers aren't all that concerned about the rules of the wealthy enclave where the boy lives, but instead of chaos, their free spirits engender love.
The final story, The Man at the Door, is eerie and surreal - an arrow lanced at anyone who has discouraged another's dreams and attempts at a creative life. Beware the power of a woman's fury, unleashed.
The stories are about characters on the cusp of change and King renders their transformations with breathtaking twists that feel inevitable. There are no theatrics here, just perfectly sketched characters living through moments we all recognize - the awkward, bumbling minutiae that becomes crystalline with significance when we look back and realize what we've become. Lily King renders the human condition with crackling detail and astonishing insight.
September 27, 2021
Short stories are just......short.
Hence, the reason why I'm not often drawn to them. You just get into the ebb and flow of them and then they end.
But these short stories, in the hands of the talented Lily King, have substance to them. Each could be the springboard to a novel in of themselves. She has an uncanny skill of uncovering the pulse points of humanity. And it is revealed in each of her selected characters that reflect all ages, all walks of life, and all individuals who brush up against love and also those who feel the very loss of it.
Five Tuesdays in Winter may be a worthy bridge for you to cross into the writings of Lily King. But, at the same time, Lily King has showcased her brilliant writing abilities in Euphoria and in Writers & Lovers. Each are incredible reading experiences. But Writers & Lovers held my heart. Her main character of Casey carries the weight of profound grief after the loss of her mother. Like the majority of us, she wears a path back too soon into wrapping herself in the return to daily routines.
Lily King's writing is brutally honest as it peels back the layers of human nature. And that's the deepest element of a true writer.......allowing you to see profoundly beyond the words.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Grove Press and to Lily King for the opportunity.
Hence, the reason why I'm not often drawn to them. You just get into the ebb and flow of them and then they end.
But these short stories, in the hands of the talented Lily King, have substance to them. Each could be the springboard to a novel in of themselves. She has an uncanny skill of uncovering the pulse points of humanity. And it is revealed in each of her selected characters that reflect all ages, all walks of life, and all individuals who brush up against love and also those who feel the very loss of it.
Five Tuesdays in Winter may be a worthy bridge for you to cross into the writings of Lily King. But, at the same time, Lily King has showcased her brilliant writing abilities in Euphoria and in Writers & Lovers. Each are incredible reading experiences. But Writers & Lovers held my heart. Her main character of Casey carries the weight of profound grief after the loss of her mother. Like the majority of us, she wears a path back too soon into wrapping herself in the return to daily routines.
Lily King's writing is brutally honest as it peels back the layers of human nature. And that's the deepest element of a true writer.......allowing you to see profoundly beyond the words.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Grove Press and to Lily King for the opportunity.
June 26, 2021
This is a truly wonderful collection of ten short stories that focus on the shifts that happen when transitioning from one phase of life to another. King has a great gift when it comes to depicting emotional movements, the slight, subtle vibrations that hum and change when people interact, the certainties and insecrurities that know no logical explanations, but have their own tangible realities. As in every collection, not all stories are brilliant, but none of these stories are truly weak.
And there are true gems, like one about a teenage boy who befriends two older housesitters, and their outlook on life changes him forever, or the story about a young girl from a poor family who is hired as a babysitter for the rich and falls for a far too old, far too jaded man. The writing, although highly accessible, is addictive, it captivates the reader and demands full attention as these mostly quiet tales still manage to become intense.
Many texts carry a beautiful melancholy, sometimes there is also a deep sadness running through the pages - but to read the stories is a true pleasure.
Fun fact for the language freaks out there, regarding the story set in Germany: The book taught me that in English, a "Low German accent" is the same as a "Low Saxon accent", while in fact, Lower Saxony is known to be the region where the clearest High German is spoken, so the term "Low Saxon accent" (niedersächsischer Akzent) makes zero sense in German, as such an accent (unlike a Low German accent, plattdeutscher Akzent) doesn't exist.
And there are true gems, like one about a teenage boy who befriends two older housesitters, and their outlook on life changes him forever, or the story about a young girl from a poor family who is hired as a babysitter for the rich and falls for a far too old, far too jaded man. The writing, although highly accessible, is addictive, it captivates the reader and demands full attention as these mostly quiet tales still manage to become intense.
Many texts carry a beautiful melancholy, sometimes there is also a deep sadness running through the pages - but to read the stories is a true pleasure.
Fun fact for the language freaks out there, regarding the story set in Germany: The book taught me that in English, a "Low German accent" is the same as a "Low Saxon accent", while in fact, Lower Saxony is known to be the region where the clearest High German is spoken, so the term "Low Saxon accent" (niedersächsischer Akzent) makes zero sense in German, as such an accent (unlike a Low German accent, plattdeutscher Akzent) doesn't exist.
November 24, 2021
I really enjoyed nine of these stories, especially the title story about a bookstore owner who falls in love with an employee, and North Sea, about a vacation trip from Hell with a sullen 12 year old girl. Been there, done that, and so apparently has Lili King. I've read two of King's novels, and now find that she does short stories equally well.
Only one story, Mansard, failed to deliver. Not only did I not really understand it, it seemed like a story written to illustrate why a lot of people don't like short stories.
Most of these stories involve children, of all ages, all sexes, in all attitudes, and the mothers or fathers trying to cope with the love and rage that are a part of that.
An excellent collection, highly recommended.
Only one story, Mansard, failed to deliver. Not only did I not really understand it, it seemed like a story written to illustrate why a lot of people don't like short stories.
Most of these stories involve children, of all ages, all sexes, in all attitudes, and the mothers or fathers trying to cope with the love and rage that are a part of that.
An excellent collection, highly recommended.
April 29, 2022
Q&A with myself
What were some of the themes explored in the stories?
King writes about ordinary people with messy lives as she explores loss, grief, heartache, and self-discovery with vulnerable characters longing for love, acceptance, and struggling with change.
Are the characters likeable, or unlikeable and easy to connect and relate to? Do they change and grow with the conflicts they experience?
Lily King creates an array of uniquely endearing, likable characters of all ages, but the complicated relationships are at the heart of the stories. The stories centered around parents and adolescents were the ones I related most too. She writes about parents trying to understand and connect to their bright, vulnerable, self-conscious children who have “become a creature they couldn’t understand.” Often stories explore bad parenting, but here, we see a raw, honest look at the messiness of raising one of those creatures who think their parents are creatures they don’t understand and relate to.
“Adults hid their pain, their fears, their failure, but adolescents hid their happiness, as if to reveal it would risk its loss.”
Yes, in only a few pages we see the characters change and grown through their experiences. We see them discover something about life, themselves, and each other..
What were some of the conflicts the characters experienced?
We have characters who are left vulnerable by spouses who have left them or have experienced a loss, mental health crisis, alcoholism, or crudity.
Would I recommend the stories?
Yes!!
Did the book inspire me to read more from the author?
Yes, I have Writers & Lovers on my shelf of unread books and have moved it to the top of my list to read.
I received a copy from the publisher
What were some of the themes explored in the stories?
King writes about ordinary people with messy lives as she explores loss, grief, heartache, and self-discovery with vulnerable characters longing for love, acceptance, and struggling with change.
Are the characters likeable, or unlikeable and easy to connect and relate to? Do they change and grow with the conflicts they experience?
Lily King creates an array of uniquely endearing, likable characters of all ages, but the complicated relationships are at the heart of the stories. The stories centered around parents and adolescents were the ones I related most too. She writes about parents trying to understand and connect to their bright, vulnerable, self-conscious children who have “become a creature they couldn’t understand.” Often stories explore bad parenting, but here, we see a raw, honest look at the messiness of raising one of those creatures who think their parents are creatures they don’t understand and relate to.
“Adults hid their pain, their fears, their failure, but adolescents hid their happiness, as if to reveal it would risk its loss.”
Yes, in only a few pages we see the characters change and grown through their experiences. We see them discover something about life, themselves, and each other..
What were some of the conflicts the characters experienced?
We have characters who are left vulnerable by spouses who have left them or have experienced a loss, mental health crisis, alcoholism, or crudity.
Would I recommend the stories?
Yes!!
Did the book inspire me to read more from the author?
Yes, I have Writers & Lovers on my shelf of unread books and have moved it to the top of my list to read.
I received a copy from the publisher
August 8, 2025
hm. rtc
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reading litfic in the summer >>>>>
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reading litfic in the summer >>>>>
November 4, 2021
Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King is a collection of 10 beautiful, surprising and heartbreaking stories with real characters about love, loss, family, marriage, betrayal, and LIFE. Different people (ages and sex) in Different situations at Different times. I enjoyed it, loved it. This was my first read from the author. Now, I'm a Lily King fan!
Creature
A 14-year-old girl takes a babysitting job, goes to stay with a family for two weeks. She falls for the wrong man.
Five Tuesdays in Winter
Mitchell is Bookseller, a single man with his daughter. Kate works at his bookshop, and he secretly falls for her.
When in the Dordogne
One of my favorite stories, A young boy, before entering high school, spend the summer of 1986 with Ed and Grant. Two college boys who be with him when his parent wasn't home.
“It’s gone. It’s over. You can’t find it, stroke it, coo over it. Time has stolen it away like it fucking steals everything. In rare instances, like yours, that can be a good thing.”
North Sea
Oda and her twelve years old daughter, Hanne go on vacation in a village near the sea. For the first time after her husband died, She tries to have a conversation with her daughter.
"But for so long now when someone asked how she was they loaded it with pity and braced themselves for her reply as if she had the power to hurt them with the truth".
Timeline
A story of a girl who moves to live with his brother to left her wrong choice behind, And her friendship with their neighbor, a single mom.
Hotel Seattle
The relationship of the two best friends is ruined because one of them is homosexual and after few years, he sees married and middle-aged Paul.
Waiting for Charlie
My next favorite story. Charlotte had had an accident, so badly damaged that not yet to consciousness. Her grandfather tries normal speaking to her.
"It was too much. There was too much unnecessary loss. There always had been".
This was a very beautiful and heartbreaking story.
"Tried to pray. He’d never learned to pray. All he knew how to do was beg".
Mansard
Frances's father back after few years. When she has 4 children and the last time she saw him, was at her wedding.
South
Marie-Claude didn't want their children to know why their father left them. But, Flo heard too much, and she's not happy with her mother's secrets. She should choose her vacation with her father and his girlfriend in a hotel, or her mother in a friend's house.
"Sometimes it feels there is nothing about her life her children cannot uncover, cannot redefine".
The Man at the Door
She has three children and one of them only a baby, she tries to find some time to write. In meanwhile a strange man shows up at her door with her unfinished book.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King in exchange for an honest review.
Published Date 09 Nov 2021
My review on 28 May 2021
Creature
A 14-year-old girl takes a babysitting job, goes to stay with a family for two weeks. She falls for the wrong man.
Five Tuesdays in Winter
Mitchell is Bookseller, a single man with his daughter. Kate works at his bookshop, and he secretly falls for her.
When in the Dordogne
One of my favorite stories, A young boy, before entering high school, spend the summer of 1986 with Ed and Grant. Two college boys who be with him when his parent wasn't home.
“It’s gone. It’s over. You can’t find it, stroke it, coo over it. Time has stolen it away like it fucking steals everything. In rare instances, like yours, that can be a good thing.”
North Sea
Oda and her twelve years old daughter, Hanne go on vacation in a village near the sea. For the first time after her husband died, She tries to have a conversation with her daughter.
"But for so long now when someone asked how she was they loaded it with pity and braced themselves for her reply as if she had the power to hurt them with the truth".
Timeline
A story of a girl who moves to live with his brother to left her wrong choice behind, And her friendship with their neighbor, a single mom.
Hotel Seattle
The relationship of the two best friends is ruined because one of them is homosexual and after few years, he sees married and middle-aged Paul.
Waiting for Charlie
My next favorite story. Charlotte had had an accident, so badly damaged that not yet to consciousness. Her grandfather tries normal speaking to her.
"It was too much. There was too much unnecessary loss. There always had been".
This was a very beautiful and heartbreaking story.
"Tried to pray. He’d never learned to pray. All he knew how to do was beg".
Mansard
Frances's father back after few years. When she has 4 children and the last time she saw him, was at her wedding.
South
Marie-Claude didn't want their children to know why their father left them. But, Flo heard too much, and she's not happy with her mother's secrets. She should choose her vacation with her father and his girlfriend in a hotel, or her mother in a friend's house.
"Sometimes it feels there is nothing about her life her children cannot uncover, cannot redefine".
The Man at the Door
She has three children and one of them only a baby, she tries to find some time to write. In meanwhile a strange man shows up at her door with her unfinished book.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King in exchange for an honest review.
Published Date 09 Nov 2021
My review on 28 May 2021
May 14, 2022
My first Lily King book but certainly not my last.
These stories were poignant, melancholy, so imbued with life in all its little details. She captured the essence of loneliness, of striving for human connection, so well.
Her specificity in each story somehow manages to make these tales feel even more relatable, bridging truth and desire, the fantasy of a life that’s just beyond the border of reality.
My favorite stories were “When in the Dordogne”, “North Sea”, “Waiting for Charlie”, “Timeline”, “Creature” and the title story. I really enjoyed all of them except for two stories which I didn’t even dislike, they just paled in comparison to the rest.
One of the most consistent collections I’ve read in a long time! All the stories felt very different from one another and yet tied together so well with their atmosphere and style.
Can’t wait to check out more of King’s work soon!
These stories were poignant, melancholy, so imbued with life in all its little details. She captured the essence of loneliness, of striving for human connection, so well.
Her specificity in each story somehow manages to make these tales feel even more relatable, bridging truth and desire, the fantasy of a life that’s just beyond the border of reality.
My favorite stories were “When in the Dordogne”, “North Sea”, “Waiting for Charlie”, “Timeline”, “Creature” and the title story. I really enjoyed all of them except for two stories which I didn’t even dislike, they just paled in comparison to the rest.
One of the most consistent collections I’ve read in a long time! All the stories felt very different from one another and yet tied together so well with their atmosphere and style.
Can’t wait to check out more of King’s work soon!
May 27, 2022
❀ blog ❀ thestorygraph ❀ letterboxd ❀ tumblr ❀ ko-fi ❀
Having loved Lily King’s Writers & Lovers I was looking forward to reading more of her work and I can happily say (or write) that her first-ever collection of short stories did not disappoint. More often than not I find short story collections to be a mixed bag (with some good ones, some meh ones, and even a bad egg or two). But, I found myself drawn to all of the stories in Five Tuesdays in Winter. While the stories focus on characters who don’t always have much in common (be it their age, the time when and/or place where they are living, their fears or desires) their narratives are characterised by a bittersweet tone that will elicit feelings of nostalgia in the reader (regardless of whether they have experienced what the characters are experiencing). Despite the title of this collection many of these stories are set during the summer and easily transport us right there alongside the characters so that we too are experiencing the heat, elation, and almost-surreality of their summer holidays (that feeling of being free from the usual routines etc). King captures with unsparing clarity the thoughts and feelings of her characters, and conveys their wide range of emotions, honing in on the longing, unease, giddiness, and sadness they experience over the course of their stories. Some are in love with someone who may or may not reciprocate their feelings, others are in a phase of transition, for example, from childhood to adulthood, or mired in the confusion of adolescence.
In the first story, ‘Creature’, Cara, a fourteen-year-girl, is employed by a well-off family as a babysitter for the summer holidays. During the time she spends at this family’s house she becomes infatuated with Hugh, her employer's son, who is much older than her. Our narrator is an aspiring author who likes to envision herself as a Jane Eyre sort of figure but, one thing is to daydream about Hugh, another is realising that Hugh has no compunction about making a move on her (when she’s very much underage).
In ‘Five Tuesdays in Winter’ a single-father and bookseller falls for his employer who is also tutoring his daughter in Spanish. Mitchell is however unable to express his feelings and spends much of his time longing to confess his love to her. In ‘When in the Dordogne’ the son of two professors bonds with the two college students who have been hired to housesit his home and keep an eye on him. In ‘North Sea’ a mother and daughter are on vacation together but their strained relationship results in a less than idyllic time. While the following stories also present us with different perspectives and scenarios they explore similar themes (hope, connection, love). I liked how King manages to be both a gentle and an unflinching storyteller, that is able to make you happy one moment and sad the next. I also appreciated that the stories didn’t have neat endings or ‘valuable’ life lessons but often read like a slice-of-life that is providing us with a glimpse into a specific period of her characters’ lives. King captures how confusing feelings can be sometimes, so that we have characters both longing for something or someone while at the same time feeling uneasy at the possibility of attaining what, or who, they’d thought they desired.
My favourites were ‘Creature’, ‘When in the Dordogne’, ‘Timeline’, and ‘Hotel Seattle’.
King’s understated prose is a marvel to read and I had a wonderful time with this collection. If you were a fan of Writers & Lovers you should definitely pick this one up. Moving and wistful Five Tuesdays in Winter is a scintillating collection!
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
“You become a creature I can’t understand, my mother sometimes said to me.”
Having loved Lily King’s Writers & Lovers I was looking forward to reading more of her work and I can happily say (or write) that her first-ever collection of short stories did not disappoint. More often than not I find short story collections to be a mixed bag (with some good ones, some meh ones, and even a bad egg or two). But, I found myself drawn to all of the stories in Five Tuesdays in Winter. While the stories focus on characters who don’t always have much in common (be it their age, the time when and/or place where they are living, their fears or desires) their narratives are characterised by a bittersweet tone that will elicit feelings of nostalgia in the reader (regardless of whether they have experienced what the characters are experiencing). Despite the title of this collection many of these stories are set during the summer and easily transport us right there alongside the characters so that we too are experiencing the heat, elation, and almost-surreality of their summer holidays (that feeling of being free from the usual routines etc). King captures with unsparing clarity the thoughts and feelings of her characters, and conveys their wide range of emotions, honing in on the longing, unease, giddiness, and sadness they experience over the course of their stories. Some are in love with someone who may or may not reciprocate their feelings, others are in a phase of transition, for example, from childhood to adulthood, or mired in the confusion of adolescence.
In the first story, ‘Creature’, Cara, a fourteen-year-girl, is employed by a well-off family as a babysitter for the summer holidays. During the time she spends at this family’s house she becomes infatuated with Hugh, her employer's son, who is much older than her. Our narrator is an aspiring author who likes to envision herself as a Jane Eyre sort of figure but, one thing is to daydream about Hugh, another is realising that Hugh has no compunction about making a move on her (when she’s very much underage).
In ‘Five Tuesdays in Winter’ a single-father and bookseller falls for his employer who is also tutoring his daughter in Spanish. Mitchell is however unable to express his feelings and spends much of his time longing to confess his love to her. In ‘When in the Dordogne’ the son of two professors bonds with the two college students who have been hired to housesit his home and keep an eye on him. In ‘North Sea’ a mother and daughter are on vacation together but their strained relationship results in a less than idyllic time. While the following stories also present us with different perspectives and scenarios they explore similar themes (hope, connection, love). I liked how King manages to be both a gentle and an unflinching storyteller, that is able to make you happy one moment and sad the next. I also appreciated that the stories didn’t have neat endings or ‘valuable’ life lessons but often read like a slice-of-life that is providing us with a glimpse into a specific period of her characters’ lives. King captures how confusing feelings can be sometimes, so that we have characters both longing for something or someone while at the same time feeling uneasy at the possibility of attaining what, or who, they’d thought they desired.
My favourites were ‘Creature’, ‘When in the Dordogne’, ‘Timeline’, and ‘Hotel Seattle’.
King’s understated prose is a marvel to read and I had a wonderful time with this collection. If you were a fan of Writers & Lovers you should definitely pick this one up. Moving and wistful Five Tuesdays in Winter is a scintillating collection!
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
March 29, 2022
For someone who doesn’t love short stories, I sure am reading a lot of them lately. And I’m not sorry. Lily King is good. She’s really good. And these are a good intro to her writing, while also offering something new to fans of her novels. I'm a little sorry I listened to this rather than read the physical book. Each story is read by a different narrator, some better than others. These added too many variables for me to settle into King's singular rhythms.
December 17, 2021
A good short story, it is said, is a world onto itself. If so, then Lily King has created a galaxy.
These stories – these little worlds – sparkle, and perhaps none more than the eponymous story. An emotionally shut-down Maine bookseller is deserted by his wife and left to raise a pre-teen daughter (in a wonderfully descriptive line, he recalls that his wife relayed the most emotion he had ever shown her was during a debate about the use of a comma in a grocery shopping note). Into this wintry life comes a new employee Kate, with her faded, untucked shirts and jeans and her capacity to thaw him. The push-pull of his fear and desire are beautifully explored and the reader can’t help but wish for a happy ending.
There are other spot-on stories that also resonate: in “Creature”, a young teen babysitter whose homelife is in shambles “tries on” the heroine roles of novels such as Jane Eyre, only to realize that the hero she cast in her fantasies is really a bad guy who has little more than his own interests at heart. In “When in the Dordogne”, a young teenage boy – an accidental latecomer from a wealthy family-- finds himself in the care of two college sophomores while his parents travel abroad—and finds himself in the process. In “Hotel Seattle”, a gay man who a long time ago had a crush on his college roommate meets up with him years later in a surprisingly painful encounter.
Many of the characters that populate these pages are young and on the threshold of innocence and experience. Several come from rich backgrounds, although the money does not shield them from the vagaries of life. Others are navigating communication gaps with their children who have lost fathers, mothers, or emotional security. Often these children and teens rip apart their parents own security blankets as they search for honesty and truth.
There is true humanity in these rewarding stories. A few shorter ones toward the end do not quite live up to the potential of the ones I’ve cited but all the stories are authentic and revealing. Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing a galley in exchange for an honest review. I rate this collection a 4.5.
These stories – these little worlds – sparkle, and perhaps none more than the eponymous story. An emotionally shut-down Maine bookseller is deserted by his wife and left to raise a pre-teen daughter (in a wonderfully descriptive line, he recalls that his wife relayed the most emotion he had ever shown her was during a debate about the use of a comma in a grocery shopping note). Into this wintry life comes a new employee Kate, with her faded, untucked shirts and jeans and her capacity to thaw him. The push-pull of his fear and desire are beautifully explored and the reader can’t help but wish for a happy ending.
There are other spot-on stories that also resonate: in “Creature”, a young teen babysitter whose homelife is in shambles “tries on” the heroine roles of novels such as Jane Eyre, only to realize that the hero she cast in her fantasies is really a bad guy who has little more than his own interests at heart. In “When in the Dordogne”, a young teenage boy – an accidental latecomer from a wealthy family-- finds himself in the care of two college sophomores while his parents travel abroad—and finds himself in the process. In “Hotel Seattle”, a gay man who a long time ago had a crush on his college roommate meets up with him years later in a surprisingly painful encounter.
Many of the characters that populate these pages are young and on the threshold of innocence and experience. Several come from rich backgrounds, although the money does not shield them from the vagaries of life. Others are navigating communication gaps with their children who have lost fathers, mothers, or emotional security. Often these children and teens rip apart their parents own security blankets as they search for honesty and truth.
There is true humanity in these rewarding stories. A few shorter ones toward the end do not quite live up to the potential of the ones I’ve cited but all the stories are authentic and revealing. Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing a galley in exchange for an honest review. I rate this collection a 4.5.
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