Shivers, suspense, loves, secrets… Here is a selection of LGBT+ books to savor on the beach or during scorching summer nights.
By Laure Dasinieres and Tessa Lanney
Reassuring
The author of the very beautiful N’essuie jamais de larmes sans gants returns with this novel that tells, with numerous references to fairy tales, the gay awakening and the strength of the 1970s community in the face of abuse and trauma. Often harsh, sometimes raw, but uniquely touching and comforting.
La Fête des folles, by Jonas Gardell. Actes Sud Editions.
Strong
Resilience often finds its path through writing. A victim of incest by his brother, Cyriel is encouraged by his therapist to break the last barriers in order to reappropriate his story… An intense narrative, sustained by contemporary prose, and which also carries a reflection on bisexuality.
J’avais les nuits et toujours trop de pardons, by Cyriel Bleu. Double Ponctuation Editions.
Passionate
In sun-drenched Arles, during a photography festival, three men, three solitudes, three follies, love each other, part, tear apart. A deft short novel about attachment, power, and self-staging.
Amour à Arles – Trois folies, by Thomas Louis. Reconnaissance Editions.
Sensitive
Gay love novel, coming-of-age tale, fable about the beauty of ties woven from childhood… Lucien Fradin, whom we greatly enjoyed Midi-Minuit Sauna, offers a magnificent and endearing narrative served by a fluid rhythm and intimate language. Read in one go, with a smile on your lips and a tear in your eye.
Vert tendre, by Lucien Fradin. Les Venterniers Editions.
Sunny
This 25th novel by the author of Arrête avec tes mensonges goes to scratch, under the Tuscan sun, buried family secrets and the taboo of homosexuality in the 1960s. A sunny and moving tale, to read during the siesta.
Une pension en Italie, by Philippe Besson. Julliard Editions.
Mysterious
A haunted nocturnal novel, Le Visage de la nuit follows, in an uncertain past, a young boy disfigured by an illness and raised by the village priest. A poetic, intriguing, and sensuous narrative that speaks to the violence of men in the face of physical anomalies considered monstrous.
Le Visage de la nuit, by Cécile Coulon. L’Iconoclaste Editions.
Devouring
Under the cover of a love triangle in a psychiatric clinic, this autofiction with ferocious prose tells the obsessive reinvention of a young man on a tightrope, fleeing his past. The debut novel of a former contributor to Têtu, whose talent is evident here.
L’Arène intérieure, by Ulysse Josselin. Philippe Rey Editions.
Liberator
The homosexual son of a former member of Israel’s domestic intelligence service who was Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir’s bodyguard, the poet and essayist Dory Manor begins tracing his family past after his father’s death. A book of mourning and history, captivating and carried by a superb language.
Le Gorille, by Dory Manor. Grasset Editions.
Breathless
A gripping psychological thriller full of twists, La Gardienne deftly discusses violence, psychological manipulation, and masculine dominance, while giving space to complex female heroines. Sometimes echoing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium, it is a book to devour in one sitting.
La Gardienne, by Sonja Delzongle. Fleuve Noir Editions.
Unruly
What if Jack Kerouac had been a Jewish lesbian in 1980s New York? With Girls, Visions and Everything, Sarah Schulman twists the beatnik imagination to follow Lila Futuransky, a penniless artist who traverses loves, lines up lovers, friendships, and East Village nights without ever seeking to make her a model character. A very daringly insolent text.
Girls, Visions and Everything, by Sarah Schulman. Héloïse d’Ormesson-Queer Ardent Editions.
