Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. This week, I’m sharing my review of Lie With Me by French author Philippe Besson.

Lie With Me was initially published in 2017 by Julliard (France) and Penguin Random House (USA) and is 160 pages long (English version).

The Plot
Lie With Me is a coming-of-age love story set during the 1980s in rural France. The novel centres around Philippe, a seventeen-year-old boy navigating adolescence, and his secret love affair with Thomas, a fellow student.

Characters
Philippe
Philippe, the protagonist and narrator, carries a mix of vulnerability, intelligence, and self-assurance that makes his teenage perspective both endearing and heartbreaking. His self-awareness, even as a teenager, creates a connection that feels incredibly intimate for the reader. He’s unflinchingly honest about his feelings for Thomas, yet fully aware of the constraints of the society in which they live.

Thomas Andrieu
Thomas might be one of the novel’s most heartbreaking characters. In contrast to Philippe, he’s incredibly reserved, stoic, and afraid of what coming out might mean for his life. While Philippe is wide-eyed and emotional, Thomas embodies a quiet intensity, making his emotions difficult to read but impossible to ignore. His struggles with his identity feel authentic and raw, especially for the period.

Lucas
Lucas is Thomas’s son and appears later in the book, bridging the past and present and acting as a catalyst for Philippe to explore unresolved emotions and discover the truth about Thomas.

Writing Style
Besson’s writing is spare and often poetic. The language is minimalist with short, declarative sentences that contain such emotional intensity. Avoiding melodrama, the book instead relies on suggestion and silence to convey the weight of memory and desire.

Translated from the original French by Molly Ringwald, the English version somehow manages to preserve this lyrical quality. The text flows beautifully, conveying both the narrative’s intimacy and its universality. I really appreciated how Ringwald maintained the quiet subtleties of Besson’s tone without over-embellishing.

The narrative itself is split into two timelines. The first immerses readers in Philippe’s teenage years, detailing the intoxicating highs and devastating lows of his secretive love affair in 1984. The second takes us to Philippe’s adult life, where a chance meeting with Thomas’s son, Lucas, stirs up feelings and memories Philippe has long since buried.

Final Thoughts
Lie With Me is one of those books you don’t want to put down because you feel as if you’ll miss something. It’s a wonderfully told story; it’s intimate, compelling, raw and yet often sweet. I read over two days and loved it.

If you like coming-of-age stories, stories about LGBTQ folks or just a riveting read, then this is a book for you.

I am giving Lie With Me a 10/10. I’d give it a 12 if the ‘laws of logic’ would allow me.

Have you read Lie With Me? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Until next time,

George

© 2025 GLT

Categories: Book Reviews, Reading

Tags: 80s, book review, French, LGBTQ, LGBTQIA+, memoir, queer, review