I've read a few of Aciman's novels and this is my first time diving into any of his work with short stories/novellas. Room on the Sea is another winner for me and I'll be returning for another read at some point.

Each story has its own intoxicating atmosphere that is established with alarming fluidity. In The Gentleman from Peru I immediately felt the tension of an overwhelming social situation. You're thrown in with a number of names and faces, ill-defined but each of them still so three dimensional, and as clarity comes to the conversation the names grow fewer and you're allowed to remain focused on the most interesting conversation in the room.

Similarly, while I've never had jury duty in Manhattan, I understood the hushed and oppressive atmosphere of the courthouse and the joy of being released. The heightened nature of imagining yourself anywhere else lending itself to setting the scene for everything to follow.

And in Mariana, the feeling of wanting to hide because I've navigated those feelings before. Maybe not the exact same feelings, but the back and forth of reconciling how you wanted, maybe even needed a situation to be, with its reality.

Aciman always takes me somewhere. These stories each transport me not to a specific location but to an emotion. Through these stories, I felt like I'd glimpsed into three lives I want to know more about. I'd happily go back to the Room on the Sea.

These short fictions made me stare at the wall for minutes. I could not get over the obsession and the resounding regret in these stories. The beautiful and lyrical prose that is a signature of Aciman is still present in this book. Mariana and Room on the Sea's writing kind of remind me of Philippe Besson's Lie With Me.

This book contains three novellas: Room on the Sea, The Gentleman from Peru, and Mariana. Each deals with relationships and love in different ways. Room on the Sea, my favourite of the three, follows a middle-aged man and woman who meet on jury duty and instantly find a connection. The story follows them on the five days of jury duty and is very sweet, melancholic, and endearing. The Gentleman from Peru focuses on a group of friends who meet an older gentleman and have an interesting conversation that leads. I did not love the shift in tone from what felt like a teacher/student relationship to a romantic one, however, I appreciate the need for it as the story explores the idea of alternate selves. And lastly, Mariana is a story of obsession, which I hate anything to do with obsession, so this wasn't my cup of tea. Overall, three solid short stories that anyone can appreciate.


Thank you, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for the ARC!!

There has been some relative confusion between two editions of Room on the Sea. Faber & Faber Ltd published the novella as a standalone, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish it on 24 June as a collection of three novellas. These novellas explore overlapping themes of love, regrets, and “André Aciman’s never-ending love for Italy”. I thoroughly enjoyed The Gentleman From Peru and Room on the Sea. Mariana, although equally exquisitely written, was lukewarm, and I did not care much for the story.

The Gentleman from Peru—4 stars—unfolds with the arrival of a group of American friends who, after their boat breaks down, find themselves stranded on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Revelling in the luxurious hotel, with all expenses paid while waiting for the boat’s repair, the group notices a quiet and solitary sexagenarian man, who eventually approaches them, placing a hand on the bruised shoulder of one of the men. Then, no pain. Their meeting, foreboding and mysterious—who is he?

Aciman’s writing always transports me into a noir screenplay, with bourgeois cafés and lush love. The Gentleman From Peru explores themes of ageism, love, and spirituality. It is a poignant story of lost love, time, and loneliness, to be pondered and revisited—just like having afternoon tea with your grandma on a hot sunny day.

More details on: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Room on the Sea—4 stars—opens up against the backdrop of New York's scorching summer, as Paul and Catherine, alongside a hundred others, await jury selection. During the span of a week, these two strangers, entrapped in a universe of their own, are constantly reminded of the strings pulling them in opposite directions. The story offers a mature and thought-provoking exploration of the yearnings between two near-retirement adults—a seemingly accomplished life, where the unspoken words simmer beneath the surface, carrying more weight than what’s spoken.

Aciman's prose oozes sensuality, maturity, and love, with opposing subtlety and honesty. The character development, as expected from Aciman, is well-crafted; Paul and Catherine—both flawed and achingly human—are compelling characters. Their internal monologues, conversations, and banter—filled with desire, guilt, and possibilities—are the heart of the novel. The book delves into the complexities of human relationships, where unspoken words and desires occupy the veiled meaning between the lines. Aciman's ability to capture these nuances is remarkable. He creates an atmosphere of quiet urging, where every glance and every word carries weight, often coded. Room on the Sea was by far my favourite of the three.

Mariana—3 stars, the last and shortest of the three novellas, tells the story of an independent, intelligent woman who spirals into destructive and obsessive behaviour over Itamar, a toxic yet charming man. This story is a psychological exploration of a woman’s obsession disguised as “love” after being ghosted. The characters are complex and will likely resonate with many readers—though it wasn’t my personal favourite.

Ultimately, Room on the Sea: Three Novellas offers thought-provoking stories that demand to be savoured and reflected upon long after finishing. It's a testament to Aciman's ability to create a world from our everyday lives that is both beautiful and melancholic. I wholeheartedly recommend ANY of his novels to readers who appreciate exquisite prose, rich dialogues and reflections that explore the depths of human emotion and the elusive nature of life's choices.

Recommended reading!

Thank you, André Aciman and Publishers, for the review copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5, rounded up.

I already reviewed the first novella, The Gentleman from Peru, to which I gave 4-stars, so instead of cut & pasting, will just link to that here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

The second titular novella I really did not care for and would have given that only 2.5 stars. It seemed both overwritten and way too long. It concerns two late sixty-year-olds: Paul, a lawyer; and Catherine, a shrink - longtime married to others, who 'meet cute' while waiting to be impaneled for jury-duty, who then strike up a friendship which turns non-platonic, and them dithering what to do about that for a week. They act like romance addled teenagers, which I found unattractive, and I thought it was over as I hit each of the three final chapters, only to woefully discover it wasn't.

The third novella, 'Mariana', I actually thought the most interesting of the three - perhaps because it was the shortest and didn't wear out its welcome - I would give that one 4.5-stars. Aciman loosely based it on the 1669 The Portuguese Letters but setting it contemporaneously. Like the original, it concerns a young woman who cannot seem to forget or let go of a brief affair with a caddish man.

My thanks to the author, Netgalley and FS&G for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

08.04.2025

I got this book today morning. the day is warm, humid, crystal pearls of sweat rolling down my skin as I started reading the first story. I finished the story now and I need time to recover.

I. THE GENTLEMAN FROM PERU

"Has anyone really been lucky when it comes to love?"

The first novella tells the story of an old man, Raul, who has visions of future and the truth beyond human comprehension. As he spends his free time in a beachside hotel on the south of Italy, he comes across a group of Americans on a break during their cruise to Lisbon. Raul gets close to the group, foretelling the future that's unpredictable, reminiscing the past that's been buried. as the group gets engulfed in the fascination of Raul's mystic ways, Raul gets closer with Margot who holds the key to a chest of memory, lives and love, buried deep in the mansion of his childhood, his past live, and the succumbing reality of the unfathomable mistakes that he had done in his life before.

Life spanning across one timeline.

Playing with fate, love, memories, and the concept of the existence of multiple lifetimes, the first novella is a kaleidoscope of the mystic ways in which our lives unfold. Not too long, not too short, this novella is a perfect candidate for a summer beach read when the sun bleeds on the twilight horizon.

II. ROOM ON THE SEA

Paul and Catherine, in their late years, meet on jury duty one day. She was reading Wuthering Heights, he was looking at her. Two old people, what could happen?

This novella was slow. Time riding on the shell of a tired snail. In the hustle bustle of jury duty and daily life, Paul and Catherine met at the nearby cafe everyday for coffee and cornetti- reminiscenting their Italian dream- the summer haze of Napoli. Laced with Freudian philosophy and the perception of world through the diminished lens of the old eyes, ROOM ON THE SEA leads you through days of them, getting to know them, getting closer to each other, finding solace in each other which they couldn't find for an eternity.

"We're not dead yet, and we're not damaged either. But we are hurt"

Reading this pulled me back to last December, when I read "Our Souls at Night" by Hari Kunzu. Love, when it's between older people, always feels more delicate, slow, warmer and somehow, healing. As a person who just stepped into his twenties, this novella gave me hope that I have a long way to go, to learn, give, and receive love, in it's endless forms. Maybe just like the novella, soulmates don't always necessarily be in love, they can be friends too-

09.04.2025

III. MARIANA

Mariana sits on the window side of her room, hot Italian summer gleaming on the stucco walls. She's writing a letter, one among the countless ones, to the person who left her, when she was bleeding with love.

Mariana is a novella that tells the bruises and scars of an ill fated relationship she had with a guy named Itamar, who gave her hope, tricked her into love, made her miserable and left her. Even in this morbid sterility, Mariana still loves him, part of her soul, buried deep in her conscience, long for his touch, his breath, his love.

Though she knows it's impossible.

"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."

Mariana is us all, at one part of life, longing for the love that's unrequited. Longing for a life that's snatched away from us, never to return.

Mariana still sits in her room, the letter getting ever so longer. I know that she'll keep on writing it. Until her breath thins out. And I know that she'll still love him, the pain so piercing, it must've made her numb.
______________

Overall, this book is magnificent. I read this book lightheartedly, yet it clutched me hard enough to cause the ache in my soul. I will definitely buy a copy of it when it publishes!

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NG for sending me the Advance Reader Copy!

A tender and beautifully written collection of novellas, Room on the Sea showcases André Aciman’s ability to capture the fragility and intensity of human connection. From fleeting summer romance to bittersweet longings and devastating heartbreak, each story explores the power of love and memory. Deeply moving and quietly profound, this is Aciman at his most lyrical.

André Aciman’s The Gentleman from Peru brings together three elegiac novellas that explore longing, memory, and the quiet ache of lost love. Known for Call Me By Your Name, Aciman returns to familiar territory: fleeting intimacy, the ghosts of what might have been, and the bittersweet nature of desire.

The title story, The Gentleman from Peru, is the most beguiling of the three. Aciman’s prose is luminous, and the narrative’s premise—an older man who claims to recognise alternate versions of people and the soulmates they’ve lost—unfolds with a quiet, philosophical elegance. The unexpected shift from a mentor-mentee dynamic into a romantic entanglement is handled with sensitivity, though the age gap may give pause. Still, it’s a beautiful meditation on the persistence of love across time and choice.

Room on the Sea follows two strangers—each unhappily married—who meet during jury duty in later life. Their emotional affair, set across five stolen days, treads the line between yearning and betrayal. Aciman’s strength lies in his ability to offer nuance without judgment, drawing the reader into the moral grey with grace.

Mariana, the final piece, is the quietest of the three. Told through a woman’s inner monologue as she writes a letter to a lost lover, it captures the self-conscious spiral of grief and reflection. While less immediate than the others, it lingers.

Together, these novellas form an intimate, contemplative triptych. They do not devastate—but they resonate. Aciman remains a master of ephemeral emotion, writing with restraint, elegance, and profound empathy.

I love Aciman’s writing, but for some reason these stories didn’t resonate with me. The third one in particular didn’t interest me at all. The story about the couple serving jury duty could be a standalone book, but I’d like a finished ending if so!

This book basically comprises of three novellas The gentleman of Peru, Room on the sea and Mariana and I have read only the second novellas Room on the sea because i was so intrigued by the plot when I first read the blurb.

Room on the sea as the name suggests felt like a getaway to a foreign land where nobody knows you and you don't know anyone and still you find comfort in being yourself by yourself but suddenly a random stranger breaks that little cocoon of yours and turns your life upside down. You weren't living your life till you met that person. A person who challenges the way you think and your beliefs, who sees you in a way that you want to be seen, who likes and appreciates the real you, who can't breathe without you and can't live a single second without thinking you, who wants to make you believe in your dreams and live your dream life but what if it was too late or what if you have to lose everything that you built all these years or what if you can just live in the present moment without giving the future or past too much thought and just live the best days of your life rather than go back to a life where you felt so dead and exhausted.

A chance encounter which turns into a life changing friendship which leads to something more deep and when the story ends, you will wonder was it a fleeting romance or one true love?

I don't want to say anything more about this because how this story makes you feel depends on you as the person reading it. You might have conflicting thoughts yet you will be rooting for the main characters and once the story ends, you won't feel as conflicted as you were in the middle of the book but dive into a introspective journey of what you as an individual think about their relationship no matter how society and your own beliefs conditioned your thoughts about love and relationship.

I don't know what the author really intended for the readers to take away because after finished reading this, I was wondering does the author wanted me to think this way or am I the one who is overthinking this?

Ratings: 4/5⭐

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.