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Lily King is The New York Times bestselling author of five novels: The Pleasing Hour (1999), The English Teacher (2005), Father of the Rain (2010), Euphoria (2014), and Writers & Lovers (2020). Her first story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter, was published in 2021. Her work has won numerous prizes and awards, including the Kirkus Prize, the New England Book Award for Fiction (twice), The Maine Fiction Award (twice), a Whiting Award, and the B&N Discover Award. She has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and an alternate for the PEN/Hemingway. Lily lives in Portland, Maine.
Lily King's website
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Two interviews with Lily King about her life and works, and in particular her 2014 novel Euphoria, and Father of the Rain (2010)
A Conversation with Lily King about Euphoria, loosely inspired by the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead
Euphoria is loosely inspired by events in the life of Margaret Mead—what first struck you about this revolutionary anthropologist?
I loved that her personal life was even more radical than her anthropology, and that the two were completely entwined. She had many lovers, men and women, often at the same time, whether she was married or not. And she believed that our culture's lack of sexual freedom was the root of some of our most serious problems. She was always working out theories of anthropology through her relationships and theories about her relationships through anthropology. "The world is my field," she said. "It's all anthropology."
Why did you decide for the first time to deal with a historical premise for Euphoria?
I didn't mean to. In fact, I tried not to write it for a long time, because it was so far out of the realm of what I'd written before—or even what I like to read. But I started reading this biography of Margaret Mead, and I got to this ...
Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books, including The Jackal's Mistress, Midwives, Hour of the Witch, and The Flight Attendant, which was an Emmy-winning MAX series starring Kaley ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Father of the Rain
Try:
Midwives
by Chris Bohjalian
Claire Cameron's novel, The Bear, became a #1 national bestseller in Canada and was long-listed for the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Cameron's writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Globe & Mail, the ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Euphoria
Try:
The Last Neanderthal
by Claire Cameron
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