English Teacher

A Chicago Tribune and Publishers Weekly Best Novel‘A domestic drama with the adrenaline-fuelled beating heart of a thriller’ - ElleFrom Lily King, author of Writers and Lovers, The English Teacher is a compelling drama about the fragility of a life built from ruins and the need to protect it.Fifteen years ago, English teacher Vida Avery arrived alone and pregnant at the elite Fayer Academy. Living on the campus off the coast of New England, she worked to become a beloved fixture of the school – and to shelter herself and her son, Peter, from a painful secret she left behind.Then she accepts the impulsive marriage proposal of ardent widower Tom Belou, and the prescribed life Vida has constructed begins to come apart. As Peter bonds with Tom and his new step-siblings, Vida retreats further into the books she teaches. To embrace life and a chance at happiness, she will have to face the nightmares of her former self – and shed the pain she has held onto for far too long.

A domestic drama with the adrenaline-fuelled beating heart of a thriller., [Lily King] has the intuitive touch of a writer whose primary interest is the inner world of her creations., [Lily King] writes with subtle clarity, displaying an intuitive understanding of the vulnerable psyches of teenagers, and with pinpoint perception of her characters' inner lives., The heart of the story is its lovely depiction of wounded people struggling to find solace and stability in each other., Moving and deeply absorbing.

Lily King is the author of The Pleasing Hour, The English Teacher, Father of the Rain, Euphoria, Writers & Lovers, which was a New York Times bestseller, and the short story collection, Five Tuesdays in Winter. Euphoria won the Kirkus Prize and the New England Book Award for Fiction, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, and was also a New York Times bestseller. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. King is also the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award and has twice won both the Maine Fiction Award and the New England Book Award. She lives in Maine, USA.