"Perfect reading for a heatwave . . . Doomed youth, simmering desire and 100-proof nostalgia is what Besson does—and he does it very well." —The Times (UK)From the author of the international bestseller Lie with Me, a “prismatic…moving” (Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review) novel set on an island off the coast of France, following a group of teenagers and the sudden disappearance of one of their number, leaving the rest with an endurin...

The New Novel from the author of Lie With Me‘Doomed youth, simmering desire and 100-proof nostalgia is what Besson does - and he does it very well . . . perfect reading for a heatwave . . . this novel made me nostalgic for the sultry summers I never had’ The Times‘This is a poignant, haunting beach read about loss of innocence, the precariousness of existence, and that painful period of adolescence when th...

“I remember the movement of his hips pressing against the pinball machine. This one sentence had me in its grip until the end. Two young men find each other, always fearing that life itself might be the villain standing in their way. A stunning and heart-gripping tale.” —André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your NameA New York Times Book Review Editor’s ChoiceThe critically acclaimed, internationally...

THE NO.1 FRENCH BESTSELLER'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 CrudoJust outside a hotel in Bordeaux, Philippe, a famous writer, chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. Wha...

Vincent comes of age in Paris in the summer of 1916.With German Zeppelins on the skyline, the men of Paris are off at war. For Vincent, the sixteen-year-old son of a prestigious family, the stillness of the city sits at odds with the candlelit salons he attends at night.Then an electrifying encounter with the enigmatic writer, Marcel P, draws Vincent’s desires out into the light, while his ever-riskier liaisons with a young solider begin to shape his future...

On an island off the coast of France, six teenagers come together for a summer of desire and discovery until one of them vanishes forever, leaving the rest with an enduring mystery.Tell me, do you know why the most beautiful love stories must always end badly?In the summer of 1985, on a scruffy resort island off the coast of France, six teenagers—five boys and one girl—band together for a final golden season before adulthood. Their days are drenche...

"Perfect reading for a heatwave . . . Doomed youth, simmering desire and 100-proof nostalgia is what Besson does—and he does it very well." —The Times (UK)From the author of the international bestseller Lie with Me, a “prismatic…moving” (Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review) novel set on an island off the coast of France, following a group of teenagers and the sudden disappearance of one of their number, leaving the rest with an endurin...

The New Novel from the author of Lie With Me‘Doomed youth, simmering desire and 100-proof nostalgia is what Besson does - and he does it very well . . . perfect reading for a heatwave . . . this novel made me nostalgic for the sultry summers I never had’ The Times‘This is a poignant, haunting beach read about loss of innocence, the precariousness of existence, and that painful period of adolescence when th...

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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.

“I remember the movement of his hips pressing against the pinball machine. This one sentence had me in its grip until the end. Two young men find each other, always fearing that life itself might be the villain standing in their way. A stunning and heart-gripping tale.” —André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your NameA New York Times Book Review Editor’s ChoiceThe critically acclaimed, internationally...