Room on the Sea by André Aciman is a meditative and melancholic exploration of fleeting connections and the ache of "what if." The story of Paul and Catherine—a chance encounter during jury duty that turns into a brief yet emotionally intense connection—is beautifully written, as expected from Aciman. His prose is lush and introspective, perfectly capturing the bittersweet nature of longing and the tension between reality and fantasy.

While Aciman's fans will appreciate his trademark exploration of memory and desire, the book’s slow pace and heavy introspection might not be for everyone. It’s perfect if you’re in the mood for a reflective and poetic read, but some may find it lacks the plot momentum of his other works. A quiet, wistful story for fans of character-driven narratives.

Thanks to the phenomenal success of Call Me By Your Name, André Aciman can be considered one of the best-known contemporary writers of “literary romance”. Room on the Sea is a volume which brings together three novellas, each of which explores a different facet of love: A Gentleman from Peru, Mariana and the title story, Room on the Sea.

I had read (and reviewed) A Gentleman from Peru some months back and had found it, on the whole, underwhelming. Its premise is a promising one, combining elements of a romance between an older man and a younger woman, with a dose of magical realism or speculative fiction. However, I thought that the story did not achieve its full potential. I’m happy to report that in this volume, it works better, because it provides an interesting contrast to the other two featured stories. For instance, Room on the Sea eschews the magical realism in favour of a very “factual” of a budding affair between a man and a woman in their 60s. They meet on a jury pool, and soon find a rapport which has gone missing in their relationship with their respective spouses. The story starts almost banally, and the dialogue is often cringy – perhaps precisely because it feels so authentic, often consisting of self-conscious conversation between two relatively elderly people having the type of crush more typical of the teens and twenties. Beyond the sketchy plot, Room on the Sea is an often thoughtful story about relationships in old age.

In my view, however, the most striking item from a literary perspective is the final novella, Mariana, which as Aciman explains in an afterword, is a reworking of a 17th Century pseudo-authentic epistolary novel: The Portuguese Letters. The original, generally attributed to Gabriel-Joseph de Lavergne, comte de Guilleragues (1628-1684), consists of the confession of a young Portuguese nun, who is seduced and then abandoned by a French officer. Aciman transposes the story into a contemporary tale of an American graduate in her early twenties who is spending time in an academy in Italy while (in a meta-literary twist) working on a manuscript about a novel published in 1669. Aciman’s Mariana falls for an artist staying at the same academy who, quite soon afterwards, replaces her with his latest flame. It is a story about obsessive love, and makes for a striking psychological study.

While I have reservations about the individual novellas, they work well together, adding up to more than the sum of their respective parts.

3.5*

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2024/12/room-on-the-sea-three-novellas-Aciman.html

I’m conflicted!
The first story (the gentleman from Peru) was by far my favourite of the three. What can I say, I’m a sucker for soulmates and poetic writing

But the last story (Mariana) was an uncomfortable read. The story is the ramblings of an obsessed woman and I get that it is supposed to be read as desperation but I don’t went to read about “the smell of his armpits that takes her back to her childhood” ???

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙧, 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙭 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬!

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for offering me an Advanced Reader Copy of “A Room on the Sea” which includes this title and two others: “A Gentleman from Peru” and “Mariana”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“It didn't flourish, it didn't blossom, it simply sprang on them that day on the beach when he'd thrown his water bottle next to her on the sand and then touched her skin. Because neither even thought, much less wished, there could be anything between them, they let their bodies decide, not their hearts, not their minds, not even the thrill of secrecy from everyone in the household.”

“A Gentleman from Peru” tells a story of an elderly man blessed (or cursed) with a gift to see, or sense, some form of the future. He meets a younger woman in a hotel in Italy, perhaps not wholly by accident, and takes her with him down memory lane, only to discover that perhaps these memories are not his alone.

I was immediately hooked into this story as the opening of this trio of short stories. It was engaging, interesting and most of all incredibly reflective. The manner in which André Aciman is able to weave character exposition into dialogue is absolutely amazing, and I felt as if I was there with the characters as their story unfolded. I also adored the magical realism thread throughout the story.

——————

"The funny thing is that, when you read the story of my life, the one thing that strings it all together is the list of what the French call my numberless rendezvous manqués, my missed appointments, missed opportunities, missed encounters, big mistakes, and all those moments that almost happened but never did and still linger and won't ever give up long after I have. Caffe Reggio is a case in point."

“A Room on the Sea” focuses on the meeting of a man and a woman in Manhattan, New York. The woman is reading Wuthering Heights and the man comments on it, striking up a conversation that is a match to a quickly burning flame. During their following conversations, they reflect on their lives and on the process of aging, as well as their dreams and ideals.

I found this particular story to be enchanting in its depth and detail. The dialogue was as if overhearing two people speak to one another on public transport, and during their conversations they each addressed and discussed their flaws and their faults, doing so in a manner that felt real and raw.

——————

“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.”

“Mariana” tells the story of a woman dejected by the man she loves. It not only outlines her hurt and jealousy, but also the way she feels almost betrayed by her constant reverting back to this man even though he is everything but good for her.

Although this was my least favourite of the three, this was not because of any faults of the story. It ran slightly on, but in the end provided another deep insight into a person’s thoughts and feelings, something this trilogy of short stories has taught me is one of Aciman’s great strength as a writer.


Overall, as you can tell, I absolutely adored this collection of stories and have become a great admirer of Aciman’s. I cannot wait to read more of his work now, and so I want to extend my thanks once again to the publisher for allowing me to read this ahead of publication date through NetGalley.

For some reason, I had difficulty connecting to the three stories in this book. Their ideas were intriguing, but they were not my favorite type of storytelling overall. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

(3.5 rounded up) This is a collection of three novellas about contemporary love by André Aciman. Aciman writes so poetically about love and all of it’s complications. “The Gentleman from Peru" continues in Call Me by Your Name’s tradition of delicious descriptions of Italy and age-gap romance, “Room on the Sea” is a love affair between two 60-somethings who meet on jury duty, and “Mariana” is about a woman scorned, telling her sad story of loving a man who didn’t love her in the same way. “Mariana” was my favorite of the three, but I enjoyed all of them, if Aciman’s writing does occasionally feel too repetitive for my taste. His writing is lush and sensory descriptions are divine, but it can become a bit tedious. I did, overall, really enjoy this. If you’ve read from Aciman before and liked him, definitely give this a try.

If the Portuguese word saudade were an author, it would undoubtedly be André Aciman. His books exude nostalgia, that aching sense of longing and what if. They have a certain mysticism, a quiet kind of magic woven into the mundane, that never fails to capture me. I can’t quite pinpoint what it is that grips me so tightly, but it’s there, unmistakable and irresistible.

And no, of course this book doesn’t come close to Call Me by Your Name. If you’re hoping for the same depth of feeling, the same intensity, you’ll likely find yourself disappointed. To approach it with such expectations is to set yourself up for an unfair comparison. But it's still good.

This collection consists of three novellas, each a meditation on love in its many forms. The first story I was familiar with, I read it years ago when it was first released. The other two were new to me.

I don't think I can pick a favorite; each story stands on its own, unique in tone and style. But if I were to choose the one that resonated with me most, it would be Mariana. There was something about its delicate intimacy, its unspoken truths, that felt deeply personal.

André Aciman, the celebrated author of "Call Me By Your Name," returns with his latest work, "Room on the Sea," a collection featuring three evocative novellas. While it is classified as a romance, I urge readers to adjust their expectations, particularly those seeking a queer romance.

Instead, the stories incorporate elements of fantasy and magical realism, with themes of connection and regret woven throughout.

Aciman showcases a lyrical and imaginative writing style in this book. While it didn’t quite resonate with me—mostly because I approached it with different expectations—those in search of a whimsical, dreamy escape from reality may find it enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC.

Thank you for the ARC from NetGalley which I received in exchange for an honest review.

I chose this book because I had previously enjoyed 'Call Me By Your Name' (both the book and film). This volume consists of three novellas united by the theme of lost chances, unseen connections and the question of 'what might have been' had circumstances been different.

For me the first story was the most engaging and intriguing. A group of American travellers stranded at a hotel on the Italian coast encounter a mysterious gentleman from Peru. He turns out to know things about each of them that only a clairvoyant could know. The story gradually unfurls and reveals its secrets. I enjoyed Aciman's lucid prose, humorous touches and the use of magical realism. The Mediterranean setting is beautifully evoked with a deft touch. Aciman seems at his best when writing about nostalgia.

The other stories are equally well-written, but I found the third one 'Mariana' tended to drag and I eventually found the narrator's self-absorption tedious.