Never Anyone But You

by Rupert Thomson

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.