Discover Well-Read Black Girl Books and the projects reshaping publishing →

Book Summary and Reviews of The Lion is In by Delia Ephron

The Lion is In by Delia Ephron

The Lion is In

by Delia Ephron

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • Mar 2012, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Tracee is a runaway bride and kleptomaniac.  Lana's an audacious beauty and a recovering alcoholic.  Rita is a holy-roller minister's wife, desperate to escape her marriage and discover whether she actually has a mind of her own.

One warm summer's night, these three women go on the lam together.  Their car breaks down on a rural highway in North Carolina and they're forced to seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned nightclub.  Which is where they meet Marcel. And soon everything changes.

Marcel, you see, is a lion, a retired circus performer stuck in a cage in this godforsaken roadhouse.  And through admiration - one might even say love - for Marcel, our heroines find a way to confront their complicated pasts and fight for the strange, embracing relationships they've formed out in the middle of nowhere They ultimately navigate their way back to their own hearts - and ours.

Written with the deftness, humor, and sparkling wit that have marked her books, plays, and movies, Delia Ephron's The Lion Is In is an unforgettable story of friendship, courage, love - and learning to salsa with the king of the jungle.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"One of the sharpest observers of human behavior around, Ephron, with her trademark mastery of smart, snappy dialogue, delivers a read-in-one-sitting, feel-good celebration of resiliency and hope." - Booklist

"Three women embark on a journey of self-discovery, facilitated by a giant feline, in Ephron’s whimsical but winsome third novel." - Kirkus

This information about The Lion is In was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Delia Ephron Author Biography

Delia Ephron is a bestselling author, screenwriter, essayist, and playwright. Her novels include the New York Times bestseller Siracusa and The Lion Is In. She has written books of essays (Sister Mother Husband Dog (Etc.)), books of humor (How To Eat Like A Child), and books for children and young adults. Her movie credits include You've Got Mail, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, This is My Life, Michael, and Hanging Up (based on her novel). Her play, "Love, Loss, and What I Wore," written with her sister Nora Ephron (based on the book by Ilene Beckerman), ran for two years off Broadway and has been performed internationally.

Author Interview
Link to Delia Ephron's Website

Name Pronunciation
Delia Ephron: Deelia EF-ruhn

Other books by Delia Ephron at BookBrowse

6 more...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Lion is In, try these:

  • Cecilia jacket

    Cecilia

    by K-Ming Chang

    Published 2024

    About this book

    An erotic, surreal novella from the author of Organ Meats and Bestiary.

  • Brood jacket

    Brood

    by Jackie Polzin

    Published 2022

    About this book

    An exquisite new literary voice - wryly funny, nakedly honest, beautifully observational, in the vein of Jenny Offill and Elizabeth Strout - depicts one woman's attempt to keep her four chickens alive while reflecting on a recent loss.

  • A Girl Like That jacket

    A Girl Like That

    by Tanaz Bhathena

    Published 2019

    About this book

    A timeless exploration of high-stakes romance, self-discovery, and the lengths we go to love and be loved.

We have 10 read-alikes for The Lion is In, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

More Literary Fiction

Browse all Literary Fiction books

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!
Win This Book
Win Theo of Golden

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

Enter

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
A Pair of Aces
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Two women on opposite sides of the law team up to bring down gangster Lucky Luciano in this gripping novel.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    The Reimagining of Thornwood House
    by Jaleigh Johnson
    A witch and her ward discover a magical walking house and find the true meaning of home.
  • Book Jacket
    Somebody Worth Killing
    by Jessica Payne
    Meet Nadia Davis, loving mom, devoted wife, secret assassin… and she needs a babysitter.
  • Book Jacket
    Summer's Never Over
    by Darby Bozeman
    A woman revisits a Southern summer camp where a counselor's death may not have been an accident.
  • Book Jacket
    Feast
    by Catherine Kurtz
    In 19th-century France, a girl with a magical taste becomes a duc’s poison taster amid nobility and danger.
Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

S the B

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.