Lie With Me cover art

Lie With Me

'Stunning and heart-gripping' André Aciman

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Lie With Me

By: Philippe Besson, Molly Ringwald - translator
Narrated by: Jacques Roy
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

THE NO.1 FRENCH BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF THE MAISON DE LA PRESSE PRIZE

'Stunning and heart-gripping' André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name

'A beautiful, shattering novel about desire and shame, about passionate youth and the regrets of age' Olivia Laing, bestselling author of Crudo

'It has been years since anything moved me as much as Lie With Me. It will become a classic.' Jonathan Coe, bestselling author of Middle England

'An intense, unforgettable novel, alive with the ache of longing and loss.' Sarah Waters, bestselling, award-winning author of The Little Stranger and Fingersmith

'Devastating and tender; this is the book I wish I'd read when I was 15, and a book I'm glad to have as a companion now' Andrew McMillan, award-winning author of Physical

'A deeply moving depiction of first love, both tender and elegiac.' John Boyne, bestselling author of A Ladder to the Sky and The Heart's Invisible Furies

'A slender, sad, acute novel... absolutely excellent' Sarah Perry, bestselling author of The Essex Serpent and Melmoth

'A tender, sensuous novel' New York Times Book Review

'A clear-sighted and passionate coming-of-age narrative. Detailing in elegant and plain prose the anxious and intense first falling-in-love between two schoolboys, Lie With Me has a tenderness and insight that is reminiscent of the writings of Garth Greenwell. This novel can be read in a matter of hours, but its impact, like the love affair it details, will echo in the mind' Irish Times

Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Small Town & Rural Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking

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All stars
Most relevant
Set in rural France, this beautiful novella tells the story of the unlikely high-school romance between two opposites. The one shy, awkward, bookish. The other, cool, stylish and remote. It tells the story of their metaphorical (and literal) summer of love and how it reaches far into their futures.
An excellent performance, beautifully read.
It's a small jewel.

A beautiful coming of age

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So quietly delivered, this translation captures one of the most moving stories I have (re) read. I had read it some years ago, lost my copy, and only found this audiobook by chance. This time, I will not let it go. The book is a gentle tapestry of the raw material that is live. The power of first love never diminishes.

Stunning

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So glad I came across this book. A painfully tragic book about love, loss, regrets, homophobia that will stay with me for a long long long time.

Heartbreaking

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It’s a beautiful story written with certain simplicity and incredible lyricisms at the same time. Honest, brutally touching in a way. It’s screams a true experience by the author - you have to know love to be able to portray it this way. It might be just by longing though. And your sexual orientation doesn’t matter in the slightest. If it is work of imagination- very well done. I couldn’t put it down

One of the most moving books I’ve listened to for a long time

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Amazing writing capturing the tragic destiny of a love long lost. I now look forward to seeing the film

Tragic and beautiful

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