"[A] study in intimacy ... the novel captures the full tragedy of the closet ... Equal parts Andre Aciman and Marguerite Duras."
-Ayten Tartici, The New York Times Book Review
"An elegiac tale of first, hidden love between two teen-age boys who have no chance of a shared future, Lie With Me sold more than a hundred thousand copies in France, where it won several prizes and is being made into a movie. Elle deemed it "the French Brokeback Mountain" ... The book reads like a photograph, faded but composed: the bac, linden trees, a green Simca 1100, Lino Ventura. We can see even if we don't know. Call it a memoir of a memory."
-Lauren Collins, The New
Yorker
"This Year's
Call Me by Your Name Is French: More Meta But Just As Hot ...
Lie With Me is the story of a successful (unnamed) French novelist ... who catches a glimpse of what he thinks is a past lover in a hotel. Triggered by the sighting, he traces the story of his secret high-school affair with that lover: It was brief in tenure but formed the mold into which he has since tried to press every other romantic relationship."
-Hillary Kelly, Vulture
"Ultimately, [
Lie With Me is] simply a beautiful and poignant love story, a short and very French tale whose sparse, delicate prose is gorgeously translated by Molly Ringwald, retaining all of its heart-stopping power. If one can look past the tough-guy facades of the main characters - and Besson's vivid first-person narration does wonders at revealing the churning thoughts and repressed feelings hiding behind such exteriors - one can easily lose oneself in this gorgeously resurrected memory of '80s love, with all its awkward beauty and lost innocence."
-
Pop Matters"One of the best novels you'll read this year was actually published in France in 2017. Translated by the actress and author Molly Ringwald,
Lie With Me by Philippe Besson brilliantly reminds readers of the joys and agonies of love."
-Jeffrey Masters,
The Advocate"[A] tender, sensuous novel."
-
New York Times Book Review, 9 New Books We Recommend This Week
"Lie with Me succeeds as a novel because of Besson's graceful writing, beautifully translated by Ringwald. Besson is a gifted stylist, and he infuses Philippe's story with the right notes of sadness and longing. . . . perfectly captures what it's like to be young and in love ... [a] lovely novel."
-Michael Schaub, NPR.org
"Want to be hip, cool and on trend? Read Phillippe Besson's story of young first love,
Lie With Me, masterfully translated from the French by Molly Ringwald ... good and sad and wonderfully beautiful."
-Ciaran Freeman,
America Magazine"French author Philippe Besson's international best seller
Lie With Me is now available Stateside thanks to actor, author, and erstwhile Parisian Molly Ringwald's fluid translation. Told in three parts, the slender novel recounts a clandestine romance between two teenage boys in 1984 ... More than 20 years after his last encounter with Thomas, Philippe runs into his former lover's doppelganger, and a chance discovery shatters the gentle reverie of the past. Small ripples can make the fiercest waves."
-Lauren Mechling,
Vogue"A devastating read about first love ... The novel is so irresistible, it can't be put down ...
Lie With Me is the must-read gay novel of the summer."
-Gary Kramer,
Philadelphia Gay News"
Lie with Me will enthrall the reader from start to finish. The prose is so spot on. Besson seems incapable of wasting a word. His descriptions, his feelings, and his memories are precise and captivating."
-Declan Henry,
New York Journal of Books"Introspective and evocative,
Lie With Me is an absorbing story about passionate love thwarted by class differences and homophobia. The slim novel takes on a great deal in a short amount of space and establishes Molly Ringwald as a skilled translator."
-Michael Kaler, Lambda Literary
"Besson's
Lie With Me-translated from French to English by none other than actress Molly Ringwald!-tells the story of Philippe, a gay man who recounts his heady, all-consuming first love as a teen growing up in France in the 1980s. The André Aciman-approved coming-of-age tale has already racked up a slew of accolades, including notable mentions from
The New York Times Book Review, the
Wall Street Journal,
The Advocate, and more. It's a No. 1 best-seller
en France, too."
-NewNowNext
"For your friend who can't stop talking about
Call Me By Your Name ... Say hi to Philippe Besson's
Lie With Me. Originally published in French, Molly Ringwald translated the book for English audiences this year. There's a love affair between two teenage boys in 1984 France and it's pretty much perfect."
-TheSkimm
"There's a reason why
Lie With Me is often compared to
Call Me By Your Name. In this slim French novel, an unnamed author is prompted to revisit his first love affair with a man. All relationships since have paled. And yes, it's translated from French by
that Molly Ringwald."
-Elena Nicolaou, Refinery 29, 35 Outstanding LGBTQ+ Books Of 2019
"People call
Lie With Me, a 1984 teenage romance novella, the French
Brokeback Mountain. A sexy, pure, and radiant story, this book has been republished for US readers, and translated by Molly Ringwald. Yes,
that Molly Ringwald! This is a great gift book, a quick plane-read, and honestly, better than
Brokeback Mountain. Don't miss it!"
-Fran Tirado, Out.com, 8 Queer Books to Read in April
"A French bestseller likened to
Call Me By Your Name and
Brokeback Mountain, the novel marks the first English translation by the actress and writer Ms. Ringwald, a longtime Francophile."
-Rebecca Makkai,
Wall Street Journal, The 10 Books You'll Want to Read This Spring
"Molly Ringwald translated this French
Call Me By Your Name-esque novel about two teenagers in 1984 Bordeaux as they fall in love in the shadows, leaving one of them to reflect on the relationship many years later."
-OprahMag.com, 30 of the Best LGBTQ Books in 2019
"It's as immediately involving and heart-breaking a tale of gay first love as I can recall... direct and devastating."
-
The Bay Area Reporter
