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
- ^ a b Hadley, Tessa (6 September 2019). "Lie With Me by Philippe Besson review – a French bestseller". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "NPR Cookie Consent and Choices". NPR. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ Collins, Lauren (9 May 2019). "Philippe Besson's Book of a Lifetime". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Kelly, Hillary (1 May 2019). "This Year's Call Me by Your Name Is French: More Meta But Just As Hot". Vulture. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "The Lover by Marguerite Duras". Five Dials. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ "Le prix Maison de la presse révèle sa sélection finale 2017". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Prix Psychologies du Roman | Livres Hebdo". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ Aïssaoui, Mohammed (3 May 2017). "Prix Orange du Livre : les cinq finalistes". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ "Arrête avec tes mensonges" (in French). Angoulême Francophone Film Festival. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ Varlin, François. "Philippe Besson voit son roman Arrête avec tes mensonges adapté au théâtre de la Tempête – (03/01/23)". Théâtral Magazine (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
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