Lie with me is a very gentle and very sad novella. The style of writing feels somewhat old fashioned and it’s very descriptive without dialogue, which makes it, for me, somewhat boring. I didn’t really enjoy reading about the love making between two men, which was a little too vivid for my liking, but essentially it is a tragic love story, which I’m sure many will enjoy.

I don't understand the hype about this book. I found it boring and one dimensional. It lacked dialogue amongst the main characters. Despite it being a short read, it took me weeks to get through this book.

Lie With Me is a bittersweet reflection of first love. Philippe and Thomas become lovers in 1984 at a time and place where they could never be free to show their love openly. How unbearable it must have been to have to hide their happiness, 'we're left stunted, compromised, by the burden of having to always lie and censor ourselves'.

They spend as many stolen moments as they can together but as life leads them onto different paths they part without recrimination, just a weary sense of resignation.

Almost twenty years later, Philippe is a successful author being interviewed about his latest book when he catches a glimpse of his beloved Thomas...'it's almost him. The resemblance is uncanny'. The man is in fact Lucas, Thomas's son. Lucas and Philippe stay in contact and in 2016 meet again where Lucas reveals some tragic news and gives Philippe a letter written by his father back in 1984:

'It was love, of course...I just wanted to write to tell you...that I have never been so happy, and that I already know I will never be so happy again'.

Lie With Me is beautiful, haunting, and thought-provoking. I adored it.

I found this really boring and over descriptive. I don’t know if it was lost in translation but I just did not enjoy it and gave up very early on.

Thanks to the publisher for granting my request. Reminiscent of Call Me By Your Name. The last quarter is a real gut-punch. Made me cry whilst on holiday by the pool!

Lie With Me is a heartbreaking true story of hidden love and loss. A quick read that you will remember for a long time. 3.5*

A story, maybe autobiographical that shows how a decision taken can change the life of two boys completely. Love does not always run smooth but is never forgotten. Time passes but emotions remain in the memory forever. Boys grow up to become men but the mind stays back in their youth.
Very enjoyable and thought provoking, sad but joyous that at least they had a time together neither ever forgot

What a beautiful and heartbreaking exploration of first love this is. The book is broken into three parts; part one remembers the relationship between Philippe and Thomas in 1984 as high school students coming to terms with their sexuality and their intense feelings for one another while also keeping their relationship secret. As a historical piece, I found it really evocative of the eighties and I thought the conversation about the AIDS crisis was really well done. As an exploration of a relationship it was beautiful and touching, but there were a couple of places that I felt it was a little repetitive. The latter two parts follow Philippe as he encounters someone to connect him to his past and I found these parts simply stunning in their simplicity and poignancy. It is impossible to read this novel without a sense of nostalgia for the ferocity of our teenage loves and Besson has captured the angst of youth beautifully. This achieves an awful lot in a scant few pages and I really loved it.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Philippe has never forgotten his first love, Thomas. When he meets his son, he remembers their time together and learns of Thomas' life afterwards . An interesting book with an unusual, enjoyable theme.

Lie With Me is a stunning short story about the first true love of two teenage boys in 80's rural France and its tragic endings. A chance encounter brings back Philippe's memories of falling in love with Thomas.

The story is told simply but with passion and love and moves through Philippe's childhood of being different to his peers, being thought of as the clever one but at home failing to live up to the standards set by his older brother and the expectations of his father, to the present as a well respected & famous author.

When I first started reading this book I thought it wasn't for me. I continued reading and was glad I did. I loved following the story of Phillipe and Thomas which really is one of a love lost. I wonder just how many people make decisions about their future happiness on the prejudices of others. I felt quite sad at the end. This was a wonderful powerful story, well written and very thought provoking.

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson
This novella by French writer Philipe Besson is a beautiful evocation of the devastating power of first love. This is the story of Philippe and Thomas who, at 17, fall in love with each other. They appear to understand from the outset that this love, beset as it is with the problem of being gay and in love in the 1980’s, is transient.
Other people have compared this book to Sarah Winman’s wonderful Tim Man and I can see that there are comparable themes dealt with through a similar lyrical prose.
The tale is articulately told by a writer of great power and it is highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The story is narrated by esteemed writer Philippe, whose chance encounter with a stunning young boy plunges him in to recollections of his youth and blistering first love: Thomas Andrieu. It is a passionate and lovelorn account of desire, shame, regret, longing and identity – a short, though sweet and shattering tale of love and loss. It is not without remarkable similarities to the much-adored sensation Call Me By Your Name – the writer of which has described Besson’s work as ‘stunning and heart-gripping’. Besides the mirrorings within the plot itself (two young men; a secret, seemingly fatalistic romance), there is also a 1980s setting and an overarching tone of palpable, near-agonising nostalgia.

It should not, however, be regarded merely as an imitation. It is a valuable testimony in and of itself – an essential contribution to the regrettably sparse LGBTQ+ narratives within literary fiction. Its allusions to the HIV crisis (which Besson himself terms a ‘massacre’) are particularly harrowing, and one of the most striking elements of the work. Aside from this, Besson also presents affectionate meditations on writing as an artform, as well as subtly puissant illustrations of culture and class (what else would you expect from a French artist?)

... Ultimately, Lie With Me is a highly readable and heartbreaking coming-of-age story, a tiny testimony of time, tenderness and torment. It is deeply human, touchingly romantic and, as alluded to previously, greatly important in the struggle towards greater diversity in the literary world. Highly recommended for anyone who loves Call Me By Your Name, of course, but also for anyone who adores romance, drama, candour and softly pretty prose – and all within a work you can consume in a single sitting.

Full review here: https://brightstarbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/09/05/lie-with-me-review/

I thought this book was the French version of Call me by your name. And in a way you could say it's Call me by your name: first, young love; unfulfilled love; life altering with its "what ifs"; just not as hypnotic and intense.
Lie With Me is written in a totally different register: so full of tenderness. And heartbreak. Calm yet powerful, slowly sneaking up on you with devastating effects. A lost battle between love and duty, resignation in front of society or better said in front of what one thinks his role in society is; with its array of consequences. Is it moral?

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 conducted furtively in case society judged it . The narrator is looking back on this after forty years having had a chance encounter with a young man who looks just like Thomas, his first love. It’s a lovely short novel that reads like a memoir and will move you whatever your sexual orientation .
I have looked up Philippe Besson and will read more of his translated work . Thank you for letting me read this gorgeous book before it’s British publication

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 the lyrical spareness of her writing, and also the ability to transport you into an almost breathless other world. The narrator, now a famous writer, sees a stranger who turns out to be related to a man he had a brief, secret relationship with as a teenager - a man who was, possibly, the love of his life, but whom he lost contact with as they went their separate ways as their school life ended and the times were such that they didn't even seem to consider the possibility of being together openly. Very atmospheric and rather sad, this book reminds you of a time when for some true love dare not speak its name.

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 a 17 year old he had a crush on a fellow pupil Thomas . The affair is brief and passionate but Thomas never seems to fully give of himself and inevitably it ends. The narrator goes on to be a writer and to accept and write about his homosexuality but Thomas' future is less auspicious. I'm still not clear about whether it is memoir or fiction but does it matter?

I love this book which is full of longing and love. The translation seems to be very good but I have to confess that I'll be buying a copy in the original french. This is a book which will stay with you whether you are male or female, gay or straight. Superb. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

This is a sad, poignant and well written book about two seventeen year old boys at a senior school in a French village, discovering each other physically and falling in love. This is 1984 and their ‘affair’, which is passionate and emotional, must be kept hidden. If you remember your first love, you’ll find that this reflects the feelings and emotions that you once had, and you can’t help but feel involved with all the pleasures, pain and angst the boys go through, whatever your sexuality.
The story then moves on more than twenty years, and again, you feel the emotion in the writing. I don’t want to give away what was happening at this time or when the story moves on another nine years, but it really pulls at your heartstrings and I recommend you read this fairly short but absorbing book.

Philippe Besson's award-winning short novel Lie With Me is published for the first time in the UK this week, translated from French by Molly Ringwald. I snuck this in as my first book of September after receiving an advanced digital copy from @penguinukbooks via NetGalley and it has left me broken.⁣
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The story begins with an unnamed famous writer reflecting on an intense love affair during his teenage years at a small French high school, after a chance encounter with a stranger who bears a striking resemblance to the boy he knew as Thomas. After an intense, exciting and sometimes joyful chapter set in 1984, the story move swiftly across four decades to its heartbreaking conclusion.⁣
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I won't reveal too much more as I don't want to spoil the story for anyone but on a personal note, I found so much of this book relatable having spent my teenage years growing up secretly gay in a rural area (albeit a decade or so later than the characters here).⁣
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This is a must-read for fans of Call Me By Your Name, in fact that book's author André Aciman describes Lie With Me as "stunning and heart-gripping".⁣
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Lie With Me by Philippe Besson is published in the UK by Penguin Books on Thursday 5th September.⁣

This book was quite simply beautiful. I think I may have held my breath throughout the entire novel.
A very simply told story of the great teenage love affair of the narrators life. From watching Thomas across the playground, to Thomas initiating contact to the sex that occurs within hours, it is exciting, erotic and yet still a coming of age study of young manhood, sexuality and learning that adult paths diverge and the level playing field of school, which keeps children of all backgrounds and abilities together for so many years is fleeting.
The novel is primarily told from the narrators perspective, as events unfold in the mid 1980’s in a sleepy French village; but also from his meeting aged 40 a young man who is the image of his former lover, Thomas.
I read this book in one sitting and was so sad to reach the end of it.