Review – Lie With Me by Philippe Bensson

Synopsis:

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:

I finished Lie With Me by Philippe Bensson last night. I need a minute… I just need a minute to let this feeling wash over me… I really REALLY want to know if this story is real? Is it made up? Or is it the author’s recount of his adolescent love back in the 1980s? This story, I just love it so much.

It is such an intimate and sentimental story. It captures the young love, the longing, the anger, the despair and the loss so well. I was reading this book but I also felt like the words were being whispered to be me directly by the author. It was so graceful, it was so tender and it was so heartbreakingly moving. I love it so much.

I did spend a good few hours googling about the author and trying to find THE picture mentioned in the story. I desperately wanted to know if Thomas Andrieu was real.

This book is only 150 pages but it has left a mark on me. An incredibly moving story. A book to be cherished.

I want to say a huge thank you to the lovely people at Vikingbooksuk for sending me this beautiful copy. I just LOVE IT SO MUCH.

#liewithme #philippebensson