What It's Like in Words

By Eliza Moss

A dark, intense, and compelling story of what happens when a young woman falls in love with the wrong kind of man.

Enola is approaching 30 and everything feels like a lot. The boxes aren't ticked and she feels adrift in a way she thought she would have beaten by now. She wants to be a writer but can't finish a first draft; she romanticizes her childhood but won't speak to her mother; she has never been in a serious relationship but yearns to be one half of a couple that DIYs together on weekends.

Enter: enigmatic writer. Enola falls in love and starts to dream about their perfect future: the wedding, the book deals, the house in Stoke Newington. But the reality is far from perfect. He's distant. But she's a Cool Girl, she doesn't need to hear from him every day. He hangs out with his ex. But she's a Cool Girl, she's not insecure. Is she? He has dark moods. But he's a creative, that's part of his "process." Her best friend begs her to end it, but Enola can't. She's a Cool Girl.

She might feel like she's going crazy at times, but she wants him. She needs him. She would die without him . . . That's what love is, isn't it? Over the next twenty-four hours (and two years), everything that Enola thinks she knows is about to unravel, and she has to think again about how she sees love, family, friendship, and--most importantly--herself.

With notes of Fleabag and I May Destroy You but with the sparseness and emotional accuracy of writers like Lily King, What It's Like in Words is a close examination of what it means to experience the intense emotional uncertainty of first love.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250355079
• ISBN13: 9781250355072
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.9"