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Lie With Me

A Novel

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Lie With Me

Written by: Philippe Besson, Molly Ringwald - translator
Narrated by: Jacques Roy
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“I remember the movement of his hips pressing against the pinball machine. This one sentence had me in its grip until the end. Two young men find each other, always fearing that life itself might be the villain standing in their way. A stunning and heart-gripping tale.” —André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name

A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice

The critically acclaimed, internationally beloved novel by Philippe Besson—“this year’s Call Me By Your Name” (Vulture) with raves in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal,NPR, Vanity Fair, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Out—about an affair between two teenage boys in 1984 France, translated with subtle beauty and haunting lyricism by the iconic and internationally acclaimed actress and writer Molly Ringwald.

In this “sexy, pure, and radiant story” (Out), Philippe chances upon a young man outside a hotel in Bordeaux who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back at the relationship he’s never forgotten, a hidden affair with a boy named Thomas during their last year of high school. Thomas is the son of a farmer; Philippe the son of a school principal. At school, they don’t acknowledge each other. But they steal time to meet in secret, carrying on a passionate, world-altering affair.

Despite the intensity of their attraction, from the beginning Thomas knows how it will end: “Because you will leave and we will stay,” he says. Philippe becomes a writer and travels the world, though as this “tender, sensuous novel” (The New York Times Book Review) shows, he never lets go of the relationship that shaped him, and every story he’s ever told.

“Beautifully translated by Ringwald” (NPR), this is “Philippe Besson’s book of a lifetime...an elegiac tale of first, hidden love” (The New Yorker). Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Heartfelt
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Captivating from beginning to end. The use of descriptions really brings you into his world, the words used really make you feel what he feels. I was fighting back the tears...

Heartbreaking truth of real love

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This is one of those books that sneaks up on you. It’s short, restrained, and quietly devastating rather than overtly dramatic - and it will linger after you’ve finished listening.

What it does exceptionally well is capture the emotional intensity of first love, especially queer adolescence in rural France: the secrecy, the fear, the longing, and the things you don’t yet have language for. It’s tender and cruel at the same time, and very precisely observed.

The title turns out to be far more clever than it first appears about lies, self-deception, secrecy, and intimacy.

If you like short, beautifully written novels that trusts the reader and don’t overplay their hand, this is well worth your time.

Quietly Devastating and Beautifully Read

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Skillfully written and emotionally moving, making it difficult to put down even when the end seems inevitable.

Beautiful and tragic

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