A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Best Novels of the Year People Magazine Critics Choice Pick “Beautifully written and carefully observed . . . King is a wildly talented writer.” —Chicago Tribune “[King] brings this beautifully rendered novel to a dramatic denouement that is once surprising and realistic.”—Los Angeles Times “[A] beautifully written follow-up . . . an engaging and moving read.” —Entertainment Weekly “[A] domestic drama with the adrenalin-fueled beating heart of a thriller, offering readers the best of two traditionally very different worlds.” —Elle “A marriage of single parents is more often the stuff of sitcoms than of serious novels, but King uses it to great effect in this intense character study. . . . King renders Vida’s seething withholding in a free, direct style that captures everything . . . She’s also excellent on the children’s reactions to each other as the households come together and then separate, dramatically and perhaps permanently.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Spare but acutely observed . . . This fine book demonstrates how a short novel can illuminate difficult real-life issues with sensitivity and insight.” — Seattle Post-Intelligencer “This wise and moving novel is much like Sue Miller’s fiction. . . . [The] narration alternates very effectively. . . . But the heart of the story is its lovely depiction of wounded people struggling to find solace and stability in each other.” — Arizona Republic “King has superbly crafted the psyche of these principal characters. . . . [She] has delved into the depths of two lonely souls and treated us to a wonderful experience.” —Tampa Tribune “From its powerful beginning, Lily King’s The English Teacher soars. It is a book filled with surprises; a novel that takes unexpected turns. . . . King is a masterful storyteller. . . . An uplifting book with a message of hope.” —Portland Press Herald “King beautifully delineates the grieving children in all their confused steps toward recovery.” —Kirkus Reviews “Lily King writes equally movingly and beautifully about both the large, dramatic and the small, seemingly inconsequential acts that destroy and define family.” —Lily Tuck, winner of the National Book Award for The News From Paraguay “King delicately delves into the fragile bonds holding families together, even when logic favors their dissolution . . . [She] writes with subtle clarity, displaying an intuitive understanding of the vulnerable psyches of teenagers, and with pinpoint perception of her characters’ inner lives.” —Booklist