‘Universally touching‘ ― Le Parisien
[ About Lie With Me ]
Just outside a hotel in Bordeaux, Philippe, a famous writer, chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back to Philippe’s teenage years, to a winter morning in 1984, a small French high school, and a carefully timed encounter between two seventeen-year-olds. It’s the start of a secret, intensely passionate, world-altering love affair between Philippe and his classmate, Thomas.
Dazzlingly rendered by Molly Ringwald, the acclaimed actor and writer, in her first-ever translation, Besson’s exquisitely moving coming-of-age story captures the tenderness of first love – and the heart-breaking passage of time.
[ My Review ]
Lie With Me by Philippe Besson published with Penguin in 2019. It was published in France in 2017 as Arrête avec tes mensonges and was a No 1 French bestseller and winner ofThe Maison De La Presse prize in the same year. Translated from the original French by Molly Ringwald, I was immediately drawn to it after recently reading Stowaways by André Aciman (also the author of Call Me by Your Name). When browsing through the Borrowbox App looking for an Aciman audiobook, Lie With Me popped up as a possible option with Aciman ‘blurbing’ the book describing it as‘a stunning and heart-gripping tale’. Lie with Me is read by Jacques Roy.
Philippe Besson’s novel would be best categorised as autofiction, with its blurring of the boundaries between fact and fiction. Besson himself is one of the main characters in the novel with the other being Thomas Andrieu, who the book is dedicated to. Opening in the present day Besson is at a business meeting when he sees someone that completely throws him, sending his mind spiralling back to the his teenage years as a youth in a rural Catholic French community. As a young boy he always knew he was different. Never interested in sport, he found solace between the pages of a book. He had experimented, sexually, out of pure curiosity with another boy his age but he had never felt anything like he did when he set eyes on Thomas Andrieu.
Philippe was quite an introvert so was taken aback when Thomas made an unexpected approach. In secret the two tentatively explored each other, leaving Philippe longing for more but never quite seeing the bigger picture like Thomas did. Thomas knew he would remain in the locality working on his parents farm. He recognised the hunger in Philippe and was confident that Philippe would leave and explore the world at large. But in the time they had together, their intimacy grew as secrets were shared. Their relationship had to remain a secret as its exposure would quickly bring shame and disrepute on their families so their time together was precious but scarce.
Philippe did leave town, with Thomas destined for a very different future. Their paths remained separate until the day Philippe sees a face that sends him right back to those formative and tender years of his youth.
Lie With Me is an extremely affecting coming-of-age story about two young men exploring their sexuality. The 1980s were a very different time when both society and the church had very strong views vehemently condoning what they considered to be deviant behaviour. For these two young men, the fear of being caught was very real, yet the pull to each other was also very strong. The writing is quite sparse, at times almost formal but it flows beautifully, which is a testament to Molly Ringwald’s translation. A wistful retrospective, Lie With Me beautifully captures the fragility, purity and pain of first love, a stunning novel.
[ Bio ]
Philippe Besson is the author of a number of award-winning novels and screenplays. The French edition of Lie With Me sold over 120,000 copies, was a no.1 bestseller, and won the prestigious Maison de la Presse prize.
Molly Ringwald’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vogue, and she is the author of the bestselling novel-in-stories When It Happens to You.
