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Review Quotes:
"Perfect reading for a heatwave . . . Doomed youth, simmering desire and 100-proof nostalgia is what Besson does--and he does it very well."
--The Times (UK)
"Prismatic...A moving, loving reflection of innocence lost too early."
--Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review
"A haunting and wistful work of autofiction about a fateful summer...Besson eloquently portrays the characters' youthful fickleness and yearning. This one leaves a mark."
--Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
"The Summer Boy has the old-fashioned charm that is characteristic of Philippe Besson's style. And of his way of painting a drama with small touches, making it all the more cruel."
--Elle
"Philippe Besson draws inspiration from a true story to construct a tale of modesty, emotion, tenderness, and tears."
--Madame Figaro
"Philippe Besson moves with his elegant pen, which expresses a lot in a few words. His intense and melancholic story is unforgettable, and his evocation of a generation reminds us how much everything has changed. Nostalgia is at its best here."
--Femina Version
"A luminous tale about the end of carelessness."
--La Tribune
"With his delicate pen, the author draws inspiration from real events to dissect the end of adolescent carefreeness in the languor of July 1985. The writing, refined, is moving."
--La Voix du Nord
"A work that is always so moving, capturing, like a succession of Polaroids, these snapshots that tell the story of simple and disorienting lives."
--La Dépêche du Midi
Biographical Note:
Philippe Besson is a prizewinning author, screenwriter, and playwright. His first novel,
In the Absence of Men, was awarded the Emmanuel-Roblès Prize in 2001, and he is also the author of
Lie with Me, a #1 French bestseller. His novels have been translated into twenty different languages.
Sam Taylor is an award-winning literary translator and novelist. He has translated over seventy books from French including works by high-profile authors such as Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani, David Diop, Maylis de Kerangal, and Marcel Proust. His translations have received recognition from the International Booker Prize, National Book Award, Dublin Literary Award, Scott-Moncrieff Prize, French-American Foundation Translation Prize, and Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Born in England, Sam was a journalist at
The
Observer (London) before moving to France. He now lives in Texas with his family and is working on his sixth novel.
Review Citations:
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Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2026 (EAN 9781668204047, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
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Publishers Weekly 03/02/2026 (EAN 9781668204047, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
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Shelf Awareness 12/30/0001 (EAN 9781668204047, Hardcover)
Contributor Bio:Besson, Philippe
Philippe Besson is a prizewinning author, screenwriter, and playwright. His first novel,
In the Absence of Men, was awarded the Emmanuel-Roblès Prize in 2001, and he is also the author of
Lie with Me, a #1 French bestseller. His novels have been translated into twenty different languages.
Contributor Bio:Taylor, Sam
Sam Taylor is an award-winning literary translator and novelist. He has translated over seventy books from French including works by high-profile authors such as Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani, David Diop, Maylis de Kerangal, and Marcel Proust. His translations have received recognition from the International Booker Prize, National Book Award, Dublin Literary Award, Scott-Moncrieff Prize, French-American Foundation Translation Prize, and Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Born in England, Sam was a journalist at
The
Observer (London) before moving to France. He now lives in Texas with his family and is working on his sixth novel.
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