I will be forever grateful to Lily King for her 2020 book “Writers and Lovers,” which was the first novel to break me out of my COVID pandemic disorientation that left me — and many others, as I recall — unable to read with any kind of sustained concentration.
“Writers and Lovers” is the story of Casey, an aspiring writer mostly working as a server, who finds herself tugged between an older, established writer (Oscar) with two young boys and a younger contemporary (Silas), who is also a writer, and a bit of a flake, but knocks her socks off with a mere kiss.
One woman, two men, either or neither of whom could be good partners in her quest to finish the novel she’s been working on for years and kick off her life as a writer. It’s sort of a grown-up version of the current teen sensation, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” except it’s a showdown between Oscar and Silas instead of Conrad and Jeremiah.
I was Team Silas. It seemed clear to me that once Silas got his act wholly together and recognized Casey’s talent, he would be the superior lover in her drive to become a writer.
“Heart the Lover” is another novel of a character (sort of) torn between two men, though in this case sequentially instead of simultaneously. Our narrator meets Sam and Yash in a college literature course, and she is quickly folded into the life of the Breach House, an old, book-stuffed place where Yash and Sam are house-sitting for a professor. They first call her Daisy after Daisy Buchanan in “The Great Gatsby,” but upon hearing that she originally came to school on a golf scholarship – before dumping it and taking on loans – they change it to Jordan after Daisy’s golfer friend.
Both boys are taken with her, but she connects first with Sam, though the relationship is ultimately doomed by Sam’s belief that sexual intercourse is a mortal sin. Once “everything but” breaks down and Sam and Jordan have sex, Sam, thinking he’s confined them both to hell, breaks it off.
Yash, pining away in the background, makes his move when he and Jordan remain on campus a semester after Sam has already graduated, finding her more than willing. They take up with great intensity.
In many ways, “Heart the Lover” is the spiritual opposite of Emily Adrian’s “Seduction Theory,” another recent book that I really enjoyed. In “Seduction Theory,” love is something to be interrogated, held in suspicion. In “Heart the Lover,” love is something that overwhelms you, leaving you largely defenseless, open simultaneously to deep connection and deep disappointment.
“Heart the Lover” is achingly, gloriously sincere. You could say to a fault, except it’s clearly intentional. These are young people who want to fall into big feelings but also wonder if they can handle them at the same time.
While there were plenty of clues for more attentive readers before this, about two-thirds of the way through, I realized that “Heart the Lover” is both a prequel and a sequel to “Writers and Lovers.” Part of the novel is the narrator of “Writers and Lovers” before we first meet her in that book, and part is after that book ends and we see her life with Silas.
Maybe this is a spoiler as it is not emphasized in the marketing copy, but in truth it’s the opposite. Appreciating the way these two books are braided into the story of a life deepened my appreciation. The books could be read in any order, and if you’re looking to feel your feelings, you should check them out.
John Warner is the author of books including “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.” You can find him at www.biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.
1. “Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission” by Hampton Sides
2. “Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History” by Hampton Sides
3. “Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America” by Scott Ellsworth
4. “Nightshade” by Michael Connelly
5. “Yellow Wife” by Sadeqa Johnson
— Carol M., Springfield
A clear interest in narrative historical nonfiction, so I’ll play along with “Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women” by Kate Moore.
“Bad Actors” by Mick Herron
“Assassins Anonymous” by Rob Hart
“Ragtime” by E.L. Doctorow
“The Sentinel” by Lee and Andrew Child
“The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter” by Peter Orner
— Jim O., Glencoe
I’m going to see if I can tempt Jim with another butt-kicking protagonist intent on fighting in the interests of right over wrong: “The Mailman” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins.
1. “The River” by Peter Heller
2. “The Briar Club” by Kate Quinn
3. “The Paris Wife” by Paula McLain
4. “Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk” by Kathleen Rooney
5. “The Other Einstein” by Marie Benedict
— Kathy C., Highland Park
For Kathy, I’m recommending a novel featuring a spirited female protagonist, “Murder Takes a Vacation” by Laura Lippman.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com.