Philippe Besson attracted significant attention with his novel Lie With Me, which was adapted for the screen, while his earlier work In the Absence of Men has also been translated into multiple languages.
Now comes his third translated book, an autobiographical account of the summer that marked the end of his youth.
It is 1985, and teenage Philippe and his parents head to Sablonceaux, where they have spent many holidays with longtime friends Christian and Anne-Marie, who live in the tourist town.
Philippe shares a room with their son François, whom he has spent summers with for as long as he can remember. Each year they reconnect and update each other on how their lives have changed over the previous 12 months. François reintroduces Philippe to his circle of friends, including newcomer Nicholas and longtime friend Christophe.
Philippe is now out and proud. François is focused on pursuing girls. Nicholas, tall, awkward and heavily built, lacks confidence when it comes to romance, while the sexuality and desires of Nicholas remain something of a mystery.
While in town, the teenagers become intrigued by an attractive young woman who has arrived for the summer holidays. But is the handsome young man accompanying her a boyfriend, a brother, or something else entirely?
Soon the six teenagers’ lives become intertwined. Their journeys are filled with hormones, first loves, family secrets, heartbreak and the thrill of one final summer of freedom before adulthood. Yet, as Besson reveals at the outset, only five of them will emerge from that summer.
Besson’s writing remains as accessible as ever. Like his other works, this novel is short and sharply written, coming in at just under 200 pages. Like Lie With Me, it is the kind of book that can easily be read in a single sitting. I devoured it over two cups of coffee.
There is not only romance between the characters, but also a romance attached to the mid-1980s setting. It is a time before email, mobile phones and social media. A time when remembering where and when to meet your friends mattered, when sexuality could not be deciphered from an online profile, and when conversation remained the primary source of news, gossip and connection.
While this novel does not offer profound reflections on the meaning of life, it does elicit a desire to live in the moment, connect with those around us and appreciate memories of a time when life was perhaps less certain, but simpler.
