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 heartgripping tale. Andr Aciman author of Call Me by Your Name A New York Times Book Review Editors Choice The critically acclaimed internationally beloved novel by Philippe Bessonthis years Call Me By Your Name Vulture with raves in The New York Times The New Yorker The Wall Street Journal NPR Vanity Fair Vogue O The Oprah Magazine and Outabout an affair between two teenage boys in 1984 France translated with subtle beauty and haunting lyricism by the iconic and internationally acclaimed actress and writer Molly Ringwald. In this sexy pure and radiant story Out Philippe chances upon a young man outside a hotel in Bordeaux who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back at the relationship hes never forgotten a hidden affair with a boy named Thomas during their last year of high school. Thomas is the son of a farmer Philippe the son of a school principal. At school they dont acknowledge each other. But they steal time to meet in secret carrying on a passionate worldaltering affair. Despite the intensity of their attraction from the beginning Thomas knows how it will end Because you will leave and we will stay he says. Philippe becomes a writer and travels the world though as this tender sensuous novel The New York Times Book Review shows he never lets go of the relationship that shaped him and every story hes ever told. Beautifully translated by Ringwald NPR this is Philippe Bessons book of a lifetime...an elegiac tale of first hidden love The New Yorker. show more