The Recurring Cast
Lily King books in order · Lily King reading order · 6 books · 1999 to 2025

Lily King Books in Order and Reading Order

Literary and generalLiterary fictionFamily and book club

Lily King writes literary novels about love, ambition and family, from Euphoria, set among anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea, to Writers & Lovers and Heart the Lover.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Lily King books in order

Lily King’s first book is The Pleasing Hour (1999). There are 6 books in all, published from 1999 to 2025.

The Lily King reading order: each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Novels

6 booksLiterary fictionFamily and book club
  1. 1The Pleasing Hour1999With Rosie · Set in ParisBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The English Teacher2005With Vida Avery · Set in New EnglandBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Father of the Rain2010With Daley Amory · Set in MassachusettsBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Euphoria2014With Nell Stone and Andrew Bankson · Set in New GuineaBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Writers & Lovers2020With Casey Peabody · Set in BostonBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Heart the Lover2025With Jordan · Set in United StatesBuy on Amazon

Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Characters

12 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Leads

Similar authors

If you enjoy Lily King, try these writers, chosen for shared genres, settings and readership.

Elizabeth StroutLiterary fiction and family and book club, also from the United States. Start with Lucy Barton.Tayari JonesLiterary fiction and family and book club, also from the United States. Start with Tasha Baxter.Jonathan FranzenLiterary fiction and family and book club, also from the United States. Start with Enid Lambert.Ann PatchettLiterary fiction and family and book club, also from the United States. Start with Roxane Coss.Virginia EvansLiterary fiction and family and book club, also from the United States. Start with Sybil Van Antwerp.Miriam ToewsLiterary fiction and family and book club. Start with Nomi Nickel.