Find Me

Melancholy, philosophical and grounded in great discourse, this highly anticipated sequel did not disappoint. Where Call Me By Your Name dances a delicate line between erotic fiction and coming-of-age great contemporary fiction, Find Me approaches romance from the wisdom of time gained (and time lost). Aciman’s ability to build tension within this genre is unsurpassed for me, and I read the book in a heart-stopping four hours. Please be warned - this is not a book dedicated to Elio & Oliver, and if you focus on what it’s not - you might miss everything it is.

The novel is split into four parts, intriguingly beginning with an older man, and his chance encounter with a stranger on a train. Chronology is cleverly utilised throughout the book to move the tale forward without sacrificing the pleasure of lingering on a few, starlit and beautiful days for almost a full third of the story. The second part of the book centres on Elio, and the third part finally gives Oliver the microphone. The last section is satisfying and hopeful.

Where the first novel built on brand new emotions, this story evolves through ghosts of kinship and love lost, memorialising greek tragedies and strong character exploration. It is intimate, tender and intricate, and yet again finds me wanting to book a trip to Italy. Some reviews have found Samuel and Miranda’s characters shallow and archetypal, but for me their whirlwind romance in part-one is too deeply routed in tangible emotions to let an older-man-meets-younger-woman plot line ruin the magic. Elio has grown into a more self-assured, open version of his 17 year old self we fell in love with in Call Me By Your Name, though (expectedly) Oliver has become stuck in a deceptive ring of highly cultured friends and an un-authentic self.

“As a French poet once said, some people smoke to put nicotine in their veins, others to put a cloud between them and others.”

Expect intellectual sparring, rich food & wine, philosophical discourse leading to sex leading to philosophical discourse, delightful scenery spilling onto musical genius and quiet themes of time, human connection, love, and letting go.