2017 novel by Philippe Besson
Lie with Me (French: Arrête avec tes mensonges, lit. 'Stop with Your Lies') is a novel by French writer Philippe Besson. It was published in 2017 to critical acclaim, and became a bestseller in France.[1] It was translated into English by Molly Ringwald under the title Lie with Me and was lauded by English-language reviewers.[2][3]
Plot
Set in 1984 in the rural French town of Barbezieux, the novel recounts the teenage love affair between the narrator and his schoolmate, Thomas Andrieu.[4]
Writing
Besson, in a piece published in January 2020, noted the influence of The Lover by Marguerite Duras onto Lie with Me:
When I threw myself into writing Lie with Me, I placed [The Lover] in front of me. I knew I was going to write about my seventeen-year-old self, about what happened the year I turned seventeen, and I have never forgotten that was the year I read The Lover. I understood that I was going to call forth my memories, that I was going to write about the memory of adolescence, like Duras.[5]
Reception
The novel became a bestseller in France.[1] The novel won the Prix Psychologies du Roman inspiran and the Prix Maison de la Presse.[6][7] The novel was a finalist for the Prix Orange du Livre.[8]
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name, which premiered at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival on 27 August 2022.[9] It was also adapted into a play performed in January 2023 at the Théâtre de la Tempête in Paris.[10]
References
