“King's swoony story of love and literature, of paths taken and not taken, of the past selves we never truly leave behind, is quietly robust and nearly impossible to put down.”

—Booklist (starred review)

“That college love affair you never got over? Come wallow in this gorgeous version of it.”

—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Praise for Heart the Lover

“Lily King has written another masterpiece. This book overflows with her brilliance and her heart. We are so lucky.”
—Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow

“Time moves like memory in Heart the Lover—urgent, intimate, elusive. What does it mean to carry a story you never get to finish? With breathtaking precision, Lily King writes about love that lingers and choices that haunt. I read it in a single, breathless sitting.”
—Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness 

“Indescribably good. It is incredible that Lily has managed to tell such an epic love story in just 250 pages, and I emerged feeling ruined for all other books. I adored these characters and feel lucky to have known them. I’m in awe. A perfect literary love story.”
—Florence Knapp, New York Times bestselling author of The Names 

“I inhaled this novel in one breathless gulp, constantly asking myself, how is she doing it? How is she writing this tender, funny, deeply empathetic novel while also making it impossible for me to stop turning the page? Heart the Lover is a magic pill and Lily King is its virtuosic alchemist.”
—Tahmima Anam, author of The Startup Wife

“Touching, thoughtful, a deeply affecting love story about time and regret.”
—David Nicholls, author of One Day

“A tender and memorable novel about love, loss, and friendship that lifts and undoes you equally.”

—Susie Boyt, author of Loved and Missed