Book Review: Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

Written by Georgios Giannarakis

Enthralling, compassionate, tender, vivid, lyrical — those are just a few words to describe this beautiful novel. Lie With Me by Philippe Besson intricately portrays a moving narrative centred on a clandestine love affair between two adolescent boys in a quaint French village. Within its pages, the book explores the intense yet transient connection shared by Philippe and Thomas. This novel was so intimate and stunningly raw, and it felt so real and relatable; it’s one that will stay with me for a long, long time, and it’s made me feel so genuinely empty and at a loss. This novel masters in its description of living and being and feeling and loving at such a radiant and evocative level. It was such a severely devastating read; the final line just shattered my tiny heart into little microscopic pieces that are unable to ever be put back together again. But I think what really resonated with me here was its powerful depiction of our lives — our sensibilities, our longings, our worries, our strengths, and our fears — and the barriers that we sometimes cannot bear to overcome and how sometimes that ends in our release from this life. This gut-wrenching novel is one that is unforgettable and one I will never want to forget.