Lily Meyer – författare

A big-hearted novel about a woman who theorises that happiness is possible solely with the eradication of all romance - only to find a love that could change her life forever...

After escaping a suffocating marriage to her abusive childhood sweetheart, Sylvie Broder decides she is done with love. She returns to graduate school and sets out to prove that, for a straight woman to be truly happy, she must separate love from sex and give up on all pursuits of romance.

Driven by PhD research, relationship trauma and pride, Sylvie''s new philosophy seems set to stick. Until Robbie comes along. And then Abie... Finding herself falling in love - not once, but twice - Sylvie must make a decision: to be brave and let this love in, or to choose her research and burn everything else to the ground.

Deeply relatable and utterly compelling, The End of Romance is an anti-romcom for anyone who, despite their very best efforts, has fallen in love and wondered why. It''s perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld, Miranda July and Miranda Cowley Heller.

''Meyer so beautifully captures the cumulative effect all of our past relationships (romantic and otherwise) have on us... She''s crafted an unforgettable cast of characters'' - Katie Yee, author of Maggie

''Meyer has created a funny, relatable and empathetic protagonist... The End of Romance is a brainy, highly original anti-romance romance'' - Susan Coll, author of Acceptance

''Gripping and incisive... You root for Sylvie at every turn... Meyer has created a woman I learned from, suffered with and, now that I''ve finished this terrific novel, miss terribly'' - Adam Ross, author of Playworld

''Meyer''s prose is both graceful and skillful. A charming and complex book full of intellect, humor, and - despite its title - romance'' - Kirkus

This novel contains depictions of emotional abuse and a reference to suicide.

Told in three distinct voices, Short War brings together a rapturous teenage love story set in Chile, the hunt for the author of an eye-opening literary detective story and a complex reckoning with American political intervention in South America.

It''s 1973, and Jewish-American Gabriel Lazris is sixteen years old and desperately in love with Caro Ravest, a Chilean Catholic. When the pair meet at a party in Santiago, something clicks. They fall fast, but with news of growing instability in Chile spreading even faster – partially thanks to Gabriel''s Nixon-loving newspaper editor dad – can they stay together amid political uncertainty?

Decades later, Gabriel''s American-raised adult daughter Nina heads to Buenos Aires in a last-ditch effort to save her dissertation. She quickly gets sidetracked: first by a sexy professor, then by a controversial book called Guerra Eterna. A document of war and an underground classic, Guerra Eterna destabilises Nina''s identity and drags Gabriel''s past into the light.

Lily Meyer''s acclaimed debut novel explores US imperialism, class, family and identity against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable Chile. It''s perfect fans of A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi, as well as readers of Claire Lombardo and Kristin Hannah.

''A tale of young flames, and their dark futures... Short War opens in Santiago, Chile, with a lovely, eerie assuredness, a moment like an incantation'' - New York Times

''Meyer finds an admirable balance between the significant historical context and the individual characters'' drama. This well-honed novel humanizes an enduring nightmare of failed democracy'' - Publisher''s Weekly

''A slow burn that absolutely ignites as the author deftly interweaves history, politics, and family'' - Kirkus

''Any debut novelist would be gratified and delighted to pull off a compelling love story or a propulsive mystery or a tangled multi-generational family drama or a devastating political and historical novel - but somehow Lily Meyer manages to do all of that'' - Chris Bachelder, author of The Throwback Special

''What a gift to have storytellers like Lily Meyer on the rise now'' - Gina Apostol, author of La Tercera

''A stellar roller-coaster of a debut'' - Megan McDowell, translator of Seven Empty Houses

''Short War is a breathtaking debut: a deeply felt portrait of youth and longing, and also a geopolitical barnburner of a story'' - Dwyer Murphy, author of The Stolen Coast

This novel contains references to political violence.