Shelf Confidence #3
Lila Raicek
Welcome to Shelf-Confidence. Designed to help you figure out what you like to, loathe to, and need to read. We’re tapping in some of our favorite authors, creators, and all-around Lit Girls to help you learn how to define your literary taste.
If you are still desperately seeking the book to take the beach or hold poolside this summer, look no further. From its chic cover (Karyn Lyons fans — perk up your ears) to its salacious and twisty insides, The Plunge by Lila Raicek is that girl as the temperatures heat up. If you don’t believe us, maybe you’ll listen to The New York Times or Vogue? (WSJ? Okay, okay, we’re done.)
So, we tapped Lila in to tell us a little more about what inspires her as a writer (fun fact — her play My Master Builder boasted a cast including Ewan McGregor and Elizabeth Debicki last year on the West end) and as a reader (Ferrante fans, rejoice!)
What are three books that define your taste?
As a writer who mines the dark, murky terrain of female desire, I am drawn to books that plumb similar depths—yet often in a sparer voice than my own. The library of literary erotic thrillers is surprisingly slim, yet In The Cut by Susanna Moore still dominates the genre. Set against the gritty backdrop of ’90’s New York (nostalgia moment), it explores the interplay of sex, obsession, and violence. And I feel lucky that Susanna gave my own book a blurb!
