Lie with Me

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 he’s 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 is the son of a school principal. At school, they don’t acknowledge each other, but they steal moments to meet in secret, carrying on a passionate, world-altering 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 novel shows, he never lets go of the relationship that shaped him, and every story he’s ever told.