Each story here pokes and provokes something about the past. Aciman writes about the past almost mythically, cautioning his characters not to get too comfortable in the bias of memory, the what-ifs, anything but the present. A well rounded collection of novellas, they all have the same signature tone of Aciman's pendulum between obsession and optimism.

Beautiful and lyrical prose awaits the reader in Aciman's Room on the Sea. This is a lush read, it draws you in and sets you an a delightful adventure. For fans of magical realism, short stories, and truly excellent literary fiction, it's a must read.

Loved the 3 novellas, this is the 2nd book that I’ve read from André Aciman and I really recommend, great reads!

Each story had a common theme of “what once was”. In the first one they are fated to never forget what once was, in the second one they imagine what could’ve been if the past had been different and decide they’re happier with who they are now, and in the final one she’d give anything to go back to the way it was. Of course it’s André Aciman so the other common theme is love, and love in all its complexity.

André Aciman does an amazing job of writing tragic love stories. Despite the heartache I feel after reading his stories, I can't help but pick up the next one. This collection of short stories really showcased his range in writing a connection between two people that jumps off the page. The first two stories had a similar feel of right person, wrong timing for the two main characters. The third story followed the theme of unrequited love and wanting something for yourself that you know isn't good for you. All three stories made me fall in love with the characters and their flaws in such a short period of time. The only trouble I had with these stories, especially with the first two that had multiple points of view, was understanding whose POV we were in line by line, since it was changing that quickly between characters. Otherwise, I think this was a wonderful collection of short stories of realistic love and heartbreak.

This is my first book by Andre and I think it was the perfect way to enter into his world. I am in love with the way his words feel like poetry and how all the emotions are shown in their truest raw form.

This was a really lovely trio of novellas, though there was a standout. The Gentleman from Peru was my favorite — quiet and heartwrenching.

I reviewed this on Goodreads as three separate books, as these novellas are not listed there as one book/.
Additionally, they were already released on Audible and I had listened to two of them their. All these stories have been released before, either as Audible originals or in different countries.
If you want to see my individual reviews they are on GoodReads (linked below). After not particularly enjoying the stories I re-read my review of Call Me By Your Name and my general thoughts on all of these are the same: so much thinking, so my angst. I think Andre Aciman is not the author for me.

Call Me By Your Name is one of my favorite books, so I was very excited both to see this title and also to get approved for the galley.

Room on the Sea is comprised of three unconnected novellas, each about love lost and found in some way or another.

One of the things I enjoy most about Aciman's writing is the way he's able to evoke a sense of place. A seaside hotel, a private beach, Manhattan at the height of summer. Each setting comes alive and is almost a character on its own. It's so easy to drift into the little world of each story and feel as thought you're actually there with these people, watching their moments unfold from ten paces away.

Each of these stories had lines that pierced right through me and it's hard to narrow them down, but I've settled on one piece of each to share:

The Gentleman from Peru:
"...if we commit the same mistakes time and time again, it’s not because we keep choosing the wrong partner or because we don’t know how to love, but because new loves won’t help us heal from that one ancient wound. All new love can do is mask the wound—and for some, this is good enough.”

Room on the Sea:
"I don’t think we ever do recover. We’re just layered with traumas and heartbreaks, some very deep, others on the surface, and before you know it, the ones on the surface sink to the very bottom and seem to go away, while those all the way below rise up again, as in a lava lamp."

Mariana:
"Sometimes I feel that life invited me to live. I accepted. But life changed its mind and gave me a rain check. Or maybe, without even knowing it, it was I who asked for the rain check, because I wanted more and better, and life had run out of options. Come next year, it said."

This is my first Aciman and this HIT. the way he writes about loneliness and relationships is too real and i felt a lot in these stories.

GENTLEMAN FROM PERU:
<i> “Everyone’s been hurt. But I still can’t believe that people actually take their own lives for love. It’s so kitsch, so camp.” </i>
this was probably my least favorite because of the whole psychic thing, a bit more ‘fun’ than the others


ROOM FROM THE SEA:
my favorite of the collection - centers on an emotional affair between two married people, and the complications and grey areas of realizing you may have ended up with the wrong partner

MARIANA:
<i> Right now, I may grow to hate you. But I don’t want to hate you. I’ve run out of ways to forgive you, yet I’ll always forgive you. I think angry thoughts, and in my head I am constantly bickering with you, proving things that I know can never be proven, reproaching you for reckless misdeeds I’ve been guilty of with others, and may commit again. Jealous? I hope you are—if only a bit. </i>
Aciman takes us into the inner thoughts of Mariana, who is still obsessed with an ex who has moved on - he’s still a constant part of her thoughts and she even admits to stalking him. really interesting gut punch of a story.

Thanks to NetGalley and André Aciman for the ARC!

Aciman is always great at building up an atmosphere that I can only describe as being lost in thought on a hot summer’s day. I prefer his long form work, but the novellas were still enjoyable to read.

Superb book, engulfing writing. Reminds me of the Fowles' "The Magus" with the same mysterious vibe. Truly enjoyed it!

”He was reading the newspaper. She was reading a novel. He looked at her once. She did not look back.”

Wow. This book was like a punch to the gut. André Aciman writes like he’s peering into the French windows of a real, raw love and passing it off like fiction. It’s rare that you read a novella, especially a romantic one, and come away from it feeling satisfied, but each novella in Room on the Sea reads whole and longer than they actually are.

Now I understand why Aciman’s books translate so beautifully to film; it’s almost like he treats his work like a screenplay, committing to detail and doing away with conventional dialogue, and launching his characters into winding monologues or none at all.

The Gentleman from Peru was my favorite. Reading it I could feel the sand between my toes, the salt drying on my skin. Phenomenal.

Best selling author of “Call Me By Your Name”, Andre Aciman writes a beautiful story of love and last chances. Room on the Sea is comprised of three novellas, “The Gentleman from Peru,” “Room on the Sea,” and “Mariana.” This title is to be released June 24, 2025.

The first novella “The Gentleman from Peru,” explores a man named Raul, who finds unexpected mentorship among a group of young americans. This story takes a romantic turn, but not off-putting. Aciman’s writing explores the theme of second chances and the idea that there are multiple versions of us in the world even after those meant for us have passed or moved on. Aciman gives us an intriguing take on star crossed lovers who continue to find each other in every lifetime.

“Room on the Sea” brings us on a journey of two people who meet during jury selection. Both are in their mid to late 60s and unhappily married in their own lives. They begin to realize they have more in common than they thought and find themselves sneaking time in the day where its just two of them.

Life, however fleeting, can be unexpected. It brings people in our lives to love, and to sometimes challenge us. Aciman explores the themes of human connection and appreciation and the lack of in relationships and the need to find that in others. However, I will never condone infidelity, but I can also empathize with feeling like you never feel whole around those you should and finding unexpected joy in others, maybe even strangers, because you can be.

“Mariana” the last novella of the book was meant to be written as Mariana’s inner dialogue as she writes a letter to the one who broke her heart. Much different than the other two stories, this was written more desperate. I think Aciman did a wonderful job at encapsulating the chaos and confusion of heartbreak; the loneliness and pain and false hope one can endure when going through the motions of a break up. I think a lot of people who have been heartbroken in their lives can relate to a point to the way Mariana felt.

Andre Aciman, in every novel I have read, delivers an interesting take on love and relationships that really makes you think about the moments in life that have shaped you into the person you have become today and I think these three stories each have their own portrayals of life decisions dictating the future’s outcome.

Three short stories all tenuously linked by a theme of lost love. The style of each story is very similar, with the author seemingly trying to tell a story by almost not telling it. Whilst in itself that’s not a bad ploy, the author doesn’t seem able to stop filling in gaps for the reader, generally unnecessarily and, for me, annoyingly..
I found the over-use of metaphors rather clunky and often not very apt or required, so rather forced. There were some inaccuracies which jarred - ‘this was the first time …’ when it wasn’t! - and which spoilt the flow for me.
All in all these short stories didn’t hit the mark for me and I’d find it hard to recommend them.

2.5⭐️
when i read ‘call me by your name’ i was totally transfixed, and i loved the story. having read that, i had an idea of what to expect as far as andre’s writing, which i don’t love, but i wanted to give this a chance because i loved the ~vibes~ of CMBYN and was hoping for something similar.

this book is actually a compilation of 3 different novellas with differing story lines, and sadly i didn’t love a single one of them. the first story, titled “the gentleman from peru” was definitely the one i enjoyed the most of the 3, but all of them just felt very long-winded and did not catch my interest. 🫤 i think what i enjoyed the most about this book as a whole was the atmospheric feel and the vivid descriptions of the varying settings, which seems to be a common theme in aciman’s writing! personally, i would recommend ‘call me by your name’ instead of this one.

thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ARC for me to read & review! 🫶🏼

I'm unsure on this book, to say the least, and that's kinda a nice way to say I didn't loved it as much as I wished.

On one hand I really liked the writing style, but the story, not so much. I enjoyed parts of it but the general feeling was not good.
I appreciate the fact that the main characters were older people rather than teens or even young adults, that was refreshing but I feel that more than a love story this is actually a story about mid life crisis and two people that experienced it together, and as such, I had a hard time connecting to the "romance" and I was definitely uncomfortable with the cheating aspect.

I also found the pacing a bit weird. Some of the stories been stretched out till the point of exhaustion while other parts flew nicely. It wasn't too cohesive for my taste.

In general, I guess is an ok but flat book and ultimately it just wasn't for me and I'm very happy that it was short.

I don't know what it is about André Aciman, but he softens the cold-hearted cynic in me. It doesn’t matter how sentimental his (typically romantic) stories are, they never feel to saccharine or cringeworthy and I always get swept up in them by the end.

Room on the Sea is a collection of three novellas which were originally published as Audible exclusives and now get to be read on the page, which is probably the best way to experience Aciman’s writing, in my opinion. While they’re all romances, the similarities between the stories pretty much stop there. Aciman uses each of these romantic tales to tell wildly different love stories.

“The Gentleman from Peru,” the story of star-crossed lovers, is classic Aciman. Sweeping, poetic, and tragic. “Mariana” is the most stylish story, almost taking the form of a monologue about unrequited love. And “Room on the Sea,” by far my favorite in the collection, is a very subtle, realist story about a late-in-life spark between two people who meet at jury duty.

Aciman’s writing is, as usual, strong throughout, and I had a great time reading a collection that felt both thematically tight and yet narratively diverse.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing an Advanced Reader Copy of A Room on the Sea, a captivating trio of short stories: A Gentleman from Peru, A Room on the Sea, and Mariana.

The collection opens with A Gentleman from Peru, where an elderly man with a mysterious ability to sense the future encounters a younger woman in an Italian hotel. Together, they journey through his memories, though their origin is unexpectedly ambiguous. This story’s reflective tone and thread of magical realism are mesmerizing, and Aciman’s skillful integration of character exposition into dialogue immerses the reader fully in the narrative.

A Room on the Sea shifts to Manhattan, where a man and woman bond over a chance conversation about Wuthering Heights. Their subsequent discussions explore aging, ideals, and self-awareness with remarkable authenticity. The dialogue feels as intimate and unfiltered as overhearing strangers on a train, drawing readers into the raw humanity of their exchange.

Finally, Mariana delves into the anguish of unrequited love and self-betrayal. Though slower in pace, it provides a deeply introspective look at a woman grappling with her attachment to a man who is clearly undeserving of her devotion.

Aciman’s ability to craft profoundly human stories through exquisite prose and vivid character development is unparalleled. Each story is a testament to his talent for exploring vulnerability, emotion, and connection.

This collection left me eager to read more of Aciman’s work. It’s an outstanding example of literary fiction at its finest.

These are three really intriguing short stories about relationships, love and sex. They are also about 'fate' and the missed opportunities that can transform people's lives.

In The Gentleman From Peru, a group of American tourists engage with a lone older man, Raul, who is also staying at the same hotel. What follows is a series of increasingly surreal conversations as the group realise the man seems to have some kind of special abilities - he seems to know details about all of them with no explanation as to why.

The conversations between the characters are clever, true to life and engaging. There is very little judgement in how the characters are described - they just are as they are.

This was a beguiling story, as Raul becomes closer to one of the Americans, Margot, and we learn they have a shared past in a completely different lifetime. This is the crux of the story - the idea that these two people have crossed paths in several lifetimes and will continue to do so, although in circumstances that mean they can't be together: 'I will again and again run into you, but I'll be too old or too young, or you'll be too old or too young.

'At some point fate will realign our calendars and, if we're lucky, we'll live seventy long years together and then never again.'

Room On The Sea sees two people, Catherine and Paul, thrown together when both are waiting to see if they'll be selected for jury duty. They have an instant connection and spend their time while waiting around the court getting to know each other. Over the course of around a week they develop inexplicably intense feelings for one another, leading both to think of leaving their respective partners.

The author is clever to add points of uncertainty and tension into the story. It isn't simply 'onwards and upwards' - instead there are moments when Catherine feels awkward, doesn't know what to say to him, feels uncomfortable. This makes the situation feel more realistic. But the relationship blossoms nonetheless.

Fate features in this story too, as it transpires that the two lived in the same building many years before. Would it have been better had they met back then? As Catherine puts it, 'That's a long time. I don't want to be who I was then.' So there is the sense that they've been brought together at the right time in their lives.

I enjoyed both of these stories but Mariana is the one that I found to be the most striking. It's a monologue from a woman who has been ditched by a man she'd become obsessed with, and her descriptions of the impact he has had on her life. She's been humiliated by thinking that they were beginning a serious relationship when for him it was just another fling.

She describes how her life still seems to revolve around him - planning when to do shopping so she may run into him and so on. The writing is very raw and unflinching, and completely draws in the reader.