Lie With Me
Paperback Published on: 05/09/2019; Language: English, French (Original language of a translated text)
Price: £9.99
Bookseller Reviews
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Illicit first love....
I finished reading this book in a heartbeat. This is a beautifully translated, lyrical, heart melting story of a love affair between two teenage boys. It i... READ MORE
Beautiful French romance
This will no doubt get lots of comparisons to Call Me By Your Name, but to my mind this is a better book. Most of the story takes place when the narrator, ... READ MORE
Beautifully nostalgic
I read the description and saw the writer review by Andre Aciman, and simply could not resist.
Many writers replicate the feelings and actions of first lo... READ MORE
A Beautiful Novel
I read this in one sitting. This is a beautiful novella that centres around the love affair of two teenage boys. Although there is little plot to this stor... READ MORE
Astonishing
First love is always such a pivotal moment in people's lives. You become obsessed, it takes over your mind and your body. You move from innocence and unkno... READ MORE
Beautiful and nostalgic
What a beautiful and heartbreaking exploration of first love this is. The book is broken into three parts; part one remembers the relationship between Phil... READ MORE
Achingly beautiful
Lie With Me is gorgeous, aching love story of young desire, struggle between freedom and fear, but also the disappearing youth and changes that growing up ... READ MORE
Synopsis
Just outside a hotel in Bordeaux, Philippe, a famous writer, chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back to Philippe's teenage years, to a winter morning in 1984, a small French high school, and a carefully timed encounter between two seventeen-year-olds. It's the start of a secret, intensely passionate, world-altering love affair between Philippe and his classmate, Thomas.
Dazzlingly rendered by Molly Ringwald, the acclaimed actor and writer, in her first-ever translation, Besson's exquisitely moving coming-of-age story captures the tenderness of first love - and the heart-breaking passage of time.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241987094
- Number of pages: 160
- Dimensions: 197 x 129 x 11 mm
- Weight: 135g
- Languages: English, French (Original language of a translated text)
Customer Reviews
View allStunning and Thought-Provoking story
LIE WITH ME – PHILIPPE BESSON
I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
If you prefer novels wi... READ MORE
Lie With Me
This short novel is a tale of first love and sexual awakening which is universal in its appeal. Now in his fifties the narrator, a writer, tells of how, as... READ MORE
Redeemed in the final third
The description of this book made me eager to read it, but unfortunately my expectations weren't met when I began. I felt that the description was uneven i... READ MORE
Beautifully written and atmospheric novel
What a beautifully written book. There are several references to the work of Marguerite Duras in the book itself, and the writing really did remind me of ... READ MORE
A poignant novella of teenage love and loss
A poignant novella of teenage love and loss
A beautifully written novella, translated from French by the American actress Molly Ringwald. The story is one... READ MORE
Sad and heartbreakingly beautiful
A short and heart-breaking story of the love between teenagers Philippe and Thomas, that changes them both and shapes their futures. When they go separate ... READ MORE
Beautiful, raw, shattering and very, very French
As somebody else has already mentioned - it's hard to avoid comparing this book to "Call Me By Your Name". They both feature a love story between two men, ... READ MORE
Stunning
The author is quoted as saying “I wanted to write a sadness.” He has certainly achieved that in the most elegant, graceful and moving manner. This is the s... READ MORE
Beautifully evocative
Beautifully evocative of time, place and being in love for the first time, Lie With Me is one of the best short novels I’ve read in a long while. I receive... READ MORE
Powerful story
“Because you will leave and we will stay.”
A powerful story about first love and its enduring impact on your life.
The novel takes place in rural France i... READ MORE
Sparsely written.but glorious coming of age love story
Simple ,elegant sparsely written poignant story of a first love. A love ,that in the time and place of it occurring couldn’t speak it’s name so was conduct... READ MORE
Lie With Me
Let's get this bit over and done with. Yes, it's translated by Molly Ringwald - she of The Breakfast Club - but, tbh, I hardly noticed that it wasn't natur... READ MORE
Stunning quick read. You will feel the heartbreak of first love all over again.
Philippe Besson's award-winning short novel Lie With Me has been published for the first time in the UK, translated from French by Molly Ringwald. I snuck ... READ MORE
Wonderful, evocative and enchanting
A beautifully written book about youth, first love and the shame of having to hide it. For me it read almost as if it was a memoir, and it could be. I did ... READ MORE
Poignant
This is very short, more of a novella. There are no sub-plots, just the basic story of a love affair between two adolescent boys and how it affects their r... READ MORE
Earth shattering
Beautiful story of first love and the heady emotions it brings, before Besson rips your heart in two. A privilege to have read this book.