Five Tuesdays in Winter moved me, inspired me, thrilled me. It filled up every chamber of my heart. I loved this book. –Ann Patchett By the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers , Lily King’s first-ever collection of exceptional and innovative short stories With Writers & Lovers and Euphoria , Lily King’s books catapulted onto bestseller and best-of-the-year lists across the country and established her as one of our most brilliant ( New York Times Book Review ), wildly talented ( Chicago Tribune ), and beloved authors in contemporary fiction. Now, for the first time ever, King collects ten of her finest short stories–half published in leading literary magazines and half brand new–opening fresh realms of discovery for avid and new readers alike. 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. Lily King’s literary mastery, her spare and stunning prose, and her gift for creating lasting and treasured characters are on full display in this curated selection of short fiction. Five Tuesdays in Winter showcases an exhilarating new form for this extraordinarily gifted author writing at the height of her career.