I Love You Too Much - Hardcover

Drake, Alicia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316553204 ISBN 13: 9780316553209

Publisher: Little Brown and Company, 2018

Synopsis

I knew I was in Paris, I knew that was the Seine beneath me, the sky above, but when I looked around for help, the grand apartment buildings of the Quai Voltaire stared back at me, indifferent.

Alicia Drake, author of the critically acclaimed biography The Beautiful Fall, evokes contemporary life in the City of Lights lavishness of Edward St. Aubyn and the sophistication of Julia Pierpont's Among Ten Thousand Things. I Love You Too Much is a novel of extraordinary intelligence and heart, a devastating coming of age story told from the sidelines of Parisian perfection.

In the sixth arrondissement everything is perfect and everyone is lonely. This is the Paris of thirteen-year-old Paul. Shy and unloved, he quietly observes the lives of the self-involved grown-ups around him: his glamorous Maman, Séverine, her younger musician lover, Gabriel, and his fitness-obsessed Papa, Philippe. Always overlooked, it's only a matter of time before Paul witnesses something that he's not supposed to see...

Seeking solace in an unlikely friendship with rebellious classmate Scarlett and succumbing to the temptation of the numerous patisseries in his elegant neighborhood, Paul searches for unconditional love. But what will he do if he can't find it?

About this title

Review

"Alicia Drake's beautifully written tale of an adolescent French boy adrift between divorced, narcissistic parents feels like the enfant naturel of Henry James's What Maisie Knew and Deborah Levy's Swimming Home. Her depiction of contemporary well-heeled Parisian life is so spot on, you might be in the sixth arrondissement watching kids spill out of school, lighting their cigarettes and lining up to buy pain au chocolat at the corner boulangerie. I couldn't put it down."--Anne Korkeakivi, author of Shining Sea

"A timely look at the carnage caused by parental narcissism. Funny, waspish, astute, l Love You Too Much is a heart breaking tale from the tubby sidelines of Parisian perfection."--Denise Mina, author of The Long Drop

"I Love You Too Much is an atmospheric deep dive into longing, betrayal, and the shattered illusions of youth. Alicia Drake's Paris is haunting, and her writing soars."
--Charlotte Rogan, author of Now and Again

"Not often do you come across a protagonist who you want to hug and shield from the world. Drake creates a character who is sure to bring out the maternal instinct in every reader."--Janice MacLeod, author of the New York Times bestseller Paris Letters

"In her compelling fiction debut, Drake, a formerly longtime Paris resident... crafts Paul's hometown with a true insider's care, and she believably narrates as a boy resisting the confining forces of his self-involved parents' narrow paths and stingily shared love for him."--Booklist

'Memorable, heartfelt...poignant and uplifting'--Publisher's Weekly

"An astute and poignant portrait of adolescence."--People

"a dark coming-of-age story that will break your heart - and not let you forget it."--Hello Giggles

Book Description

A sharp, beautiful novel about the loneliness of childhood set in the most elegant district of Paris.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0316553204
• ISBN 13: 9780316553209
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224