Tag Archives: Philippe Besson

New Releases: May 26, 2026

Young Adult

We Could Be Anyone by Anna-Marie McLemore

Lola and Lisandro are actors during Hollywood’s Golden Age, but you won’t see them on any silver screen. Instead, these siblings use their talents to scam the rich and famous out of their ill-begotten cash. They have their act down to a science: Lola plays the tragic ghost who haunts the mansions of the wealthy, and Lisandro plays the brave spiritualist who will help her soul find peace. For a small fee, of course.

The siblings have their sights set on their next target: The Coterie, the opulent estate of newspaper tycoon Bixby Fairfax and his famous mistress Blythe Bell. A score this big will allow them to move… well, anywhere but here. But this job requires them to do something they’ve never done before: switch roles. And as strange things keep happening at The Coterie… things that even Lola and Lisandro can’t explain.

As they are drawn deeper into The Coterie’s gleaming façade and tensions rise between brother and sister, one question looms over them. Will they be able to pull off their act? Or will this be their last performance?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

Continue reading New Releases: May 26, 2026

New Releases: June 3, 2025

This post is sponsored by Timothy Jay Smith and Fire on the Island, out today in paperback! Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands, Fire on the Island paints a nuanced and loving portrait of a community in crisis while shedding light on the challenges of life in contemporary Greece.

Buy it!

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Continue reading New Releases: June 3, 2025

Fave Five: Queer Histfic Set in Paris

What’s Left of the Night by Ersi Sotiropoulos, translated into English from Greek by Karen Emmerich (1897)

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher (1919)

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery (1927)

The Book of Salt by Monique Truong (1929)

The Perfume Thief by Timothy Schaffert (1941)

Bonus: For a more recent historical set in France but not Paris, check out Lie With Me by Philippe Besson, translated into English from French by Molly Ringwald (1984)