Heart the Lover

by Lily King ★★★★★

In Heart the Lover, we are thrust into the lives of three college students at an unidentified university in the late 1980s. Our narrator is an unnamed female student, majoring in English, who we come to know by a nickname, "Jordan". Her life intersects with the "two smart guys" in her 17th-Century Literature class, Sam and Yash. They take notice of her after their professor reads to the class a satirical paper she wrote, and Sam eventually asks her out. Despite some initial awkwardness, there is an undeniable attraction, and Sam and Jordan start to date.

Yash is not only their classmate, but also Sam's roommate, with the two living with one other student in the home of a professor while he is on sabbatical. As Jordan and Sam begin to spend most of their time together, she also forms a tight friendship with Yash. Where the attraction to Sam is physical, Yash is someone who she can talk to for days. As bits of incompatibility start to spring up between her and Sam, Jordan realizes she might actually have a crush on Sam's best friend, and she decides to stay an extra semester for reasons she probably doesn't realize at the time. Sam will have graduated, but Yash has another year to go, and Jordan tells him the news she'll be staying.

"Yash is even-keeled, always in a good mood, but today there seems to be an extra bit of joy. When he's done he sits back down and puts his face up to the sun. 'I'm glad you're staying here,' he says, not opening his eyes. 'I'll have one friend.'

'Me too.'

He bumps me with his shoulder again. 'We'll have our farewell to youth together.'"

The borderline novella—it's a tight 188 pages—evolves from that point in ways one may not see coming, exploring the advertised "farewell to youth", but also the all-encompassing, overwhelming nature of young love, as well as the bouts of immature decision making that often accompany it. Author Lily King then revisits those experiences later in life, focusing on how the perception of young love is put in perspective once one has lived and experienced a broader spectrum of life events.

It's a short read chock full of little life moments that resonate. It will undoubtedly connect with readers who have had enough life experiences to have lived through tangential scenarios, dredging up memories of their own youthful innocence and later the wisdom that comes with living more life. It's real, it's emotional, and it's impressive that King can create a deep connection to characters you swiftly care about in under 200 pages. Certainly worth a read and well-deserving of the praise that this short, lovely story has garnered.

NOTE: For those familiar with King's previous novel Writers and Lovers, there is a connection between the two books, but Heart the Lover can be read as a stand-alone novel.