Links for Fellow Lovers of Lily King's 'Heart the Lover'

"A great novel, a truly great one, not only captures a particular fictional experience, it alters and intensifies the way you experience your own life while you’re reading it. And it preserves it, like a time capsule." - Heart the Lover

Do you ever enjoy a book or movie so much, that, bereft upon finishing it, aching to talk about it, you immediately delve into a tab spree, trying to find out everything you can about it?

That was me after Heart the Lover by Lily King. The book was an instant New York Times bestseller, so it may already be on your radar or TBR pile.

It explores the open, messy vulnerability of young love, the rich tapestry of adult love, the depth of friendship, parenthood, and how those early relationships can ripple through our lives. Filled with hope and sorrow, it is nostalgic without being maudlin, sincere yet sharp, smart without being pretentious. I gobbled it up greedily.

Here's some of what I read and enjoyed afterwards:

• "I wasn’t thinking tearjerker. I was just thinking, how do I land this plane?" In this Literary Hub interview, Emma Straub – another author I love – interviewed Lily King about her creative process, who she writes for, and the book's "Irish twin".
• Love this round up from author Lily King herself of the best literary love stories.
• "I want the reader to feel things, remember the range of their own emotional life, feel compassion and joy and fear, feel their humanity in its great fullness." - another great conversation with Lily King, this time by the Women's Prize (Heart the Lover made the 2026 shortlist).
• "There aren’t all that many novels that travel quite so easily between online fandom and traditional literary circles." - An interesting exploration of how the book is both a critical and commercial success, and how few can walk that fine line

• Love that they made an actual card deck to play Sir Hincomb Funnibuster, with each card painted by artist Sarah Steedman – you can take a look at some here.
• {mild spoiler ahead} I went down a rabbit hole of covers of Bob Dylan's beautiful Boots of Spanish Leather covers, and this one by Tow'rs is lovely.

And if you have already read it – reach out, we need to talk.