Hopelessly Devoted To You! Find Me by Andre Aciman - Book Review #49

Many thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for sending me a review copy!

** SPOILER ALERT * SPOILER ALERT * SPOILER ALERT **

I was hesitant about reading this in the first place since I haven't actually read Call Me By Your Name yet - I have watched the movie, twice, but I was unable to procure a copy of CMBYN before lockdown happened...

Let me also just say how much I LOVED the movie!!!

Since this is the first time I was reading Aciman's writing I wasn't sure what to expect but I was honestly entranced with his writing; elegant and descriptive and evocative. Filling his pages with classical music, literature and mythological references (very much like CMBYN was) creates a sense of timelessness and eternal romance.

Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. Find Me brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.

Set decades (20 years? 30?) after the greatest love story of all time left us all breathless and heartbroken, we finally get to find out whatever happened to Elio & Oliver; where did their lives take them; did they take other lovers, start a family...

Rome, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is where this part of the story takes place and it takes us on a beautiful and whimsical little tour, filled with memories and vigils; you can feel the love of these characters have for the special people and places in their lives and the dedication they have to maintain those memories.

Told in three parts, Find Me centers around the main theme of love; true love; love at first sight; love that knows no bounds, and, most of all, love for an older man.

The first part of the story follows Samuel, Elio's father, en route to visit with Elio, when a chance encounter on a train has him instantly enamored with a beautiful young woman, who herself doesn't fully understand their complete attraction to each other. They find one excuse after another to not part ways and end up making life choices; they meet Elio, who accepts all this as scripture because he is happy for his father.

Besides the fact that this portion of the story only adds to the overall themes of the book, I could have done without it.

We finally get some alone with Elio, who is a gifted pianist and who has moved to Paris, another beautiful setting; feeling that romance and his desires are a thing of the past, he bumps into another older gentleman at a chamber music concert. This inconsequential romance only serves to remind of the love of his life, Oliver.

Oliver, meanwhile, is seriously contemplating leaving behind his family and his job as a college professor to make another trip across the Atlantic.

Because true love never dies.

Beautifully written, poignant and romantic, this is such a nice little sequel to Call Me By Your Name and is worth the read. Happy Reading!

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