Lily King Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Lily King is an American published author.

The author spent her childhood growing up in Massachusetts. She would go on to transfer states to attend the University of North Carolina and study English literature. She graduated with her B.A. and then pursued her M.A., receiving it in creative writing when she graduated from Syracuse University.

Once done with grad school, King decided to work abroad. She would teach English to high school students in Valencia, Spain. It was there that she would get to work on her first book. This would be The Pleasing Hour. It would come out in 1999, after several moves around the United States and eight years after she started it.

The work paid off as the novel won critical acclaim and multiple awards. It received the Discover Award from Barnes and Noble, the Whiting Writer’s Award, was named a notable book by the New York Times, and was nominated for the PEN/Hemingway Award. The author would continue to write, following this novel up with her 2005 book The English Teacher. This book also did well as it was named a top ten book by Publishers Weekly for the year, best book for the year by the Chicago Tribune, and won a Maine Fiction Award.

Five years later, her novel Father of the Rain was published. She would follow this up with her 2014 novel Euphoria, which was well received and garnered numerous accolades. The BBC elected to option it to make the novel into a limited series. It would receive the Kirkus Award, the New England Book Award, and was a top ten fictional book pick by The New York Times and TIME. Her fifth novel is Writers & Lovers.

The author has had other essays and short stories published as well. She has appeared in Glimmer Train, where her 1991 short story was published for the first time. She has had her work featured in different publications since. These include The Harvard Review, anthologies, One Story, Ploughshares, and more.

King has also had the success of her books translate to international appeal. Her novels have been published in over a dozen languages. She met her husband in 1995 and three years later they would be married. Together they have two children, both daughters. They reside with their family in Portland, Maine, along with their dogs.

The Pleasing Hour is the first fictional novel to come out from author Lily King. If you enjoy unique stories that transport you to other places, then check out this work! The ‘pleasing hour’ that the book refers to is a French time of day where the dusk allows lilac color to occur.

Delicate and sensual, this is the story of a young girl. Readers get to meet Rosie for the first time in this novel. She is an American young lady at the age of 19 years old. She has traveled to the exotic city of Paris for a job. She is to be the au pair for parents Nicole and Marc, who have three children together.

Some nannies want to build their resume or learn the French language, perhaps hoping to acquire an accent while making money taking care of local families’ children. For Rosie, she is trying to make an escape of sorts. She recently decided that she would agree to become a surrogate mom to help her sister out. Her sister is infertile and this is a big favor.

Now she’s wondering whether she made the right decision. She has her guard up and is noticing that her body is changing, and she’s growing bigger. The ideal movie star with the perfect body she is not, and sticks out a bit in France where the women are famously slim thanks to some mysterious lifestyle they’ve been able to practice.

Nicole has a beautiful home and is an elegant woman herself. However, Rosie is feeling that her employer may just be a tad abrasive, and it’s tough to avoid the feeling that she is being judged. She feels like an inconvenience at times even though she is providing a service. The whole situation is a bit awkward, but Rosie has no choice but to work through her job with the family, something she is a part of but separate from at the same time.

Still, Rosie makes the best of it. Her American attitude of practicality could not be more different from the attitude of Parisians, which can often border on snobbery. Sometimes she even feels a little looked down on. Still, she continues and even develops some acquaintances while she is in the country, although the people that she spends the most time with are the children.

There is Lola, who doesn’t miss anything but craves love and a sensitive approach. Then there is the oldest, Odile, who is starting to find herself as an individual and discover her sexuality and preferences. Then there is Guillaume. The youngest child has the unusual desire to join the priesthood. Things get more complicated when this nanny starts to suspect that she is attracted to boss, Marc.

He may not sit up straight, but Rosie can’t deny the attraction she feels. All that there is left to do is cross the line, at the danger of being discovered by Nicole. However, Rosie may find that it is all too much for her. Will she leave this place to take another job in Provence, or stick it out and risk the consequences of attraction?

Find out by picking up a copy of this compelling book for yourself!

The English Teacher is the second novel to be released by author Lily King. Once again, King crafts an interesting story from the point of view of a young woman.

Vida Avery is a single mother that is independently raising her son at 15 years of age. 15 years previously, she came to Fayer Academy pregnant and on her own. She now lives on the campus off the coast of New England on an island. But she is protecting herself and Peter from secrets.

When she accepts the proposal of a widower to enter into marriage, their life falls apart. But when his mother starts to collapse, will Peter help her? Read this intriguing novel from King to find out!