Never Anyone But You

by Rupert Thomson

'A taut, magnificently controlled novel' the Guardian

'A beautiful and extraordinary book . . . It's a long time since I read a love story quite so convincing and truthful' Philip Pullman

A small city in western France. The early twentieth century. Suzanne Malherbe, a shy 17-year-old with a rare talent for drawing, is entranced by the brilliant but troubled Lucie Schwob, the daughter of a Jewish newspaper magnate, and the two young women embark on a clandestine love affair.

Stifled by provincial convention and a society that is overtly patriarchal, they reinvent themselves as Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore and move to Paris, where they are swept up in the most glamorous social circles, meeting everyone from Hemingway and Dalí to André Breton, and produce photographic work of great originality and strangeness.

As World War Two looms, they leave for Jersey, and it is here that they confront their destiny, dreaming up a campaign of propaganda against Hitler's occupying forces.

From one of our most celebrated writers, Never Anyone But You explores the gripping true story of two extraordinary women who challenged gender boundaries, and ultimately risked their lives in the fight against oppression. Theirs is a story that has been hidden in the margins of history - until now...

'Sensitively realised and hugely powerful' Daily Mail

• ISBN10: 1472153502
• ISBN13: 9781472153500
• Publish Date: 5 June 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Corsair
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

The book is not at all what I expected and yet it is exactly what it should be. Does that make sense? By page 11, I was completely sucked in to the world of Suzanne and Claude. Without moving any further I could already tell that I would absolutely devour this story. I had that anticipatory anxiety of falling in love with someone you know is going to leave you shattered someday. It's going to hurt, but it's going to be too beautiful to risk missing out on the experience for the sake of self preservation. It's the same feeling that I get about 5 minutes into La Vie d'Adèle.

There's a desperation in Thomson's descriptions of Suzanne and Claude's relationship that so perfectly depict the feeling of loving someone more than they love themselves and more than you knew was possible. He makes you feel the anguish and triumph of love that knows no boundaries and has the strength to withstand and outlast time itself.

In short, I loved it. It's a book to enjoy and savor with a glass of wine or champagne and the time to let yourself feel. Books like this are rare in today's age of too much information. I know that it's a book I will revisit many more times over the years and I have a feeling that each time the story will be just a little bit different. Just like love itself.