What to read after Call Me By Your Name

André Aciman’s unforgettable story is about the powerful romance which blossoms between characters Elio and Oliver over the course of a summer in the Italian Riviera. Narrated by Elio and told retrospectively, he recalls the sudden attraction he felt towards Oliver and how this desire combined with fear, curiosity and obsession intensified and unfolded over the six weeks they spent together.

If like me you’ve been obsessed with the sensational Call Me By Your Name book, here are some others that follow along the same vein.

Carol, by Patricia Highsmith

Therese is a budding stage designer who is bored and uninspired by her day job in a department store, Carol is a mature and wealthy housewife who is just as bored and uninspired by her crumbling marriage. They meet when Therese serves Carol in the store, a meeting which sparks an undeniable attraction between the two women as they see in each other everything that is lacking in their lives; happiness, passion, inspiration, stimulation.

Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez

Love as an emotional and physical disease is a central idea behind Gabriel García Márquez’s poetic Love in the Time of Cholera, the passionate love story of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza which spans a lifetime.

Lie With Me, by Philippe Besson

If you like Call Me By Your Name for Elio’s retrospective on the love which marked him forever, then you are sure to be captivated by Philippe Besson’s beautiful novella Lie With Me too.

The Only Story, by Julian Barnes

Quietly heartbreaking, The Only Story by Julian Barnes is divided into three parts and explores the relationship between Paul, the narrator, and Susan who is nearly 30 years his senior. Part one chronicles their meeting when Paul is just 19-years-old and Susan is 48 and married with two grown daughters, yet despite the obstacles, they pursue a love affair and ultimately end up living together.