Rating: 54% | ★
Synopsis (from Edelweiss): 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. Non-Spoiler Review: Five Tuesdays in Winter was my first foray into Lily King's writing, and unfortunately, it was somewhat underwhelming. While there are some heartwarming moments throughout the collection, the bulk of the collection comes across as confusing, weary, and trite. Additionally, the pacing of all of the stories is unsettling and uncomfortable—it feels as though King ends all of her stories right before she develops true depth to her characters. King's writing also often over-rambles, making for a slightly exhausting reading experience. She focuses much of her details on minute interactions between characters while simultaneously sacrificing the development of the overarching plot. The only stories that feel adequately balanced are "When in the Dordogne," "Timeline," and "Waiting for Charlie" (King's writing shines the best in vignette-style stories like this last one). Ultimately, while Five Tuesdays in Winter will certainly appeal to readers focused on the minutiae of human yearning, I couldn't help but come away from some of the collection's stories with the damning question of "what am I supposed to take from this?" Five Tuesdays in Winter is out November 9, 2021. Thank you to Edelweiss and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.
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