I went into Lily King’s short story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter, with high expectations – after all, Writers and Lovers was one of my favourites in 2020.

Five Tuesdays suffers from patchitis. I just made that word up, but know that it’s a common affliction in short story collections. In other words, patchy, or uneven. The last few stories could have been done away with entirely as they detracted from some strong starters, namely Creature, about a teenager’s summer job babysitting and her naive romantic fantasies; the titular story, which describes a single father navigating relationships; and North Sea, about a mother and daughter’s experience of grief.

The standout was When in the Dordogne, about a 12yo who is left in the care of two college students for the summer, while his parents, academics, holiday in Europe. It had a gorgeous Wonder Years vibe, and although some readers will think it’s ‘cheating’ to do a huge leap in time in a short story (in order to provide a conclusion), I loved it.

I can look back on that time now as if rereading a book I was too young for the first time around.

King fans will note a return to familiar themes – parent/child relationships; recognising love; and grief – and her writing is, as always, lush and emotional in all the right places, and never overdone.

She wondered how other people adjusted to vacations. It was such an unpleasant feeling, like gunning a car in neutral.

3/5 Enjoyable but not remarkable.

I received my copy of Five Tuesdays in Winter from the publisher, Grove Atlantic, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first time reading Lily King, but hopefully won't be my last. As with most short story collections, there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Could not read this copy, please share a revised copy to be sent to the kindle. Very disappointed .Was unable to read this review copy.

I liked this collection of short stories! They all had a really strong sense of place, that being the NE. They were sadder in tone than I anticipated, I've read her previous novel and think the themes she was playing with in here were much more dark. These felt really cinematic at times, I can see them being adapted really well.

Lily King is INCREDIBLE! Her writing really reminds me of Rooney/Plath/Woolf. She is so good at writing about the mundane, but making it special at the same time.

Short story collections are always hit or miss for me, and that's the same with this. Beautiful writing throughout, but some of the stories were a bit lackluster. Others were great. It ended up falling right in the middle for me. I do love King's prose, and her book covers are always gorgeous so it's definitely one I'll pick up a printed copy of.

Lily King’s Five Tuesdays in Winter is a short story collection for the literary fiction lover. It’s a quiet collection about love and life. The characters are ones you’ll care about. I recommend reading a story at a time. There are beautiful sentences so you’ll be best able to digest them that way. Lily King is a beautiful writer. This is a good short story collection for someone who isn’t sure that short stories are in their wheelhouse. Curl up with this one this winter.
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Thanks to @netgalley and @groveatlantic for this ARC.

I really loved the very different stories in this story set. As with many books of short stories, there are some that hit a lot harder than others. There are some that fit perfectly into your niche and there are others that are good, just not hitting the mark on the head. Ms. King is such a talented writer. She writes in these different voices and you are right there along with her, no matter what sex she is writing in.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy.

DNF @8%. This was proving to be quite boring. The first story had about a million characters I couldn’t keep straight and with it being a short story collection the payoff of figuring it u out t wasn’t going to be worth it. Thank you for the opportunity to review and I absolutely would read a novel by this author again as I loved Writers and Lovers.

A collection of short stories about all types of people of all ages and at all times. A young au pair, a father trying his best with his daughter, old best friends, and roommates, and so on. It is very inclusive, random stories about key moments in life.

It was very refreshing; you dive into each story quickly and you get out of it breathless. They vary in length and characters so you never get bored. Sometimes it is frustrating to let go of a character because you get attached to them so quickly.

This is literally for everyone. It is not only romance, it is not only friendship, it is life. And it is easy to pick up and get into it.

I had such a good time, I definitely recommend it.

📚 related books: Beautiful World, Where Are You; Small Things Like These

Special thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for sharing a copy of this book with me in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not usually a short stories reader but this one grabbed my attention and I'm so glad I read it because it was great! I might be a convert!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Enjoyed Lilys previous books and was really glad to get arc for this. The book contains a collection of short stories , with well written characters and lots of feels from some shocking twists to sweet heart-warming romances.

Absolutely adored the first three stories, but then found the rest of the collection to be just ok. Definitely classic Lily King in its exploration of the lives of New England well-to-dos, particularly pre-2000. My favorite story of the collection by far was "When in the Dordogne"--the ending was perfect. Finally, thank you to Grove Press for providing me with an early e-copy of this work, and sorry I am late in reviewing it!

I just love Lily King. She can write anything and I’d love it. But these short stories are something else- witty and wise and often heartbreaking. What a perfect wintry way to end my reading year- and highly recommended for your reading pleasure in 2022. I think the last story may be my favorite, but then I love a bit of spooky time-bending reflection on the art of writing. This collection of stories is an ode to love, in many forms. It may not always work out as we anticipated, but love changes us either way.

Just wow! These stories absolutely shine…. So full of heart, love, sadness and hope…
Lily King’s writing is so gorgeous, every character so relatable, each story full of beautiful detail and nuance. This is one the best short story collections I’ve read in a really long time.

I loved this short story collection my the spectacular Lily King. These are stories about longing and absence that feel genuine to human experience. I love the New England world of King’s stories and their subtlety. My favorites were “In the Dordogne” about the fantasy of independence and “Mansard” about a fantasy love affair. Five stars.

This was my first book by this author, but I will definitly read more! A great introduction to her writing style and story telling. I liked most of the stories and was especially excited about the last one. Highly reccomend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lily King, and the Publisher for a copy of this E-arc in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars- rounded up to 4. This was an interesting collection of short stories varying in plots. I enjoyed most of the stories and Timeline was my favorite. I am not used to reading short story collections but these were all very well written.

King’s superpower as a writer seems to be to take very specific fictional situations and mine them for relatable human experiences, including humor, pathos, good, evil, and heart. This collection features a bunch of great stories, with some standing out above others. I really enjoyed “Creature,” “Five Tuesdays in Winter,” and “The Man at the Door.” Some themes that carry through all of them are parent-child relationships, life and death, sexuality, love, and coming-of-age. King has a lovely way with words and there are several lines in this collection that resonate. I read parts of this and listened to the audiobook, which has a different narrator for each story (including Perfect Strangers’ Bronson Pinchot!). If you love short stories, this is a great collection to experience.

Five Tuesdays in Winter is a collection of short stories. I would say that I enjoyed the first half of the book better than the last. I found the first stories did an excellent job of developing the characters in a relatively short period of time. I found the last few stories a little confusing and without purpose. But, I enjoyed reading Five Tuesdays in Winter and look forward to more great works from this author.