He has already been marked by his peers as 'different' he bears their shouted and whispered insults, and wants nothing more than to blend in. Philippe is the studious one, shy yet fiercely intelligent. The man jars Philippe's memory, reminding him of his first love, when he was in his last year of high school in 1984. Philippe is a famous writer being interviewed at a hotel in Bordeaux when he sees a handsome man walk by. But it also consumes me and makes me miserable, the way all impossible loves are miserable.' 'This feeling of love, it transports me, it makes me happy. Without ever acknowledging they know each other in the halls, they steal time to meet in secret, carrying on a passionate, world-altering affair.ĭazzlingly rendered in English by Ringwald in her first-ever translation, Besson’s powerfully moving coming-of-age story captures the eroticism and tenderness of first love-and the heartbreaking passage of time. What follows is a look back at the relationship he’s never forgotten, a hidden affair with a gorgeous boy named Thomas during their last year of high school. Just outside a hotel in Bordeaux, Philippe chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. The bike smells like gasoline and makes a lot of noise, and sometimes I’m frightened when the wheels slip on the gravel on the dirt road, but the only thing that matters is that I’m holding on to him, that I’m holding on to him outside. We drive at high speed along back roads, through woods, vineyards, and oat fields.

The award-winning, bestselling French novel by Philippe Besson about an affair between two teenage boys in 1984 France, translated with subtle beauty and haunting lyricism by the iconic and internationally acclaimed actress/writer Molly Ringwald.

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson