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3.5 

Charming Young Man

By Eliot Schrefer
Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

From New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer comes an exuberant YA historical coming-of-age novel about a rising star French pianist, navigating his way into high society as he explores his sexuality. Perfect for fans of Last Night at the Telegraph Club and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.

They say Léon Delafosse will be France’s next great pianist. But despite his being the youngest student ever accepted into the prestigious Paris Conservatory, there’s no way an impoverished musician can make his way in 1890s Paris without an outside patron.

Young gossip columnist Marcel Proust takes Léon under his wing, and the boys game their way through an extravagant new world. When the larger-than-life Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fézensac offers his patronage, Léon’s dreams are made real. But the closer he gets to becoming France’s next great thing, the further he strays from his old country life he shared with his family and his best friend, Félix . . . a boy he might love.

With each choice Léon makes, he must navigate a fine line between two worlds—or risk losing them both. 

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Charming Young Man Reviews

3.5
“I enjoyed Charming Young Man. It wasn’t gimmicky or weighed down by the quippy shallowness of modern books (although it has a modern cadence and word choice that clashes with the historical setting) and it seems like something the author really wanted to write regardless of what the publishing world wants. It is still a light queer YA book, but it is engaging, semi historical, and has interesting things to say about being gay in the time period. I have gotten to know a lot about the famous queers of the turn of the last century recently, like Oscar Wilde, Henry James, John Singer Sargent, etc., so I liked how this fit into that larger picture. It was especially compelling in the scene where Robert is trying and failing to resist León’s advances, much to León’s confusion. Robert’s internalized shame controls him. Not every gay man of the day (or today) would have been ready and willing for a variety of reasons, known or unknown, and this is unusual, especially in a book about gays. It is the kind of moment that stays with you long after you finish reading. Also, I've enjoyed this author regardless of anything else and glad I read his books.”

About Eliot Schrefer

Eliot Schrefer is the New York Times bestselling author of many books for kids and teens, including The Darkness Outside Us and its sequel, The Brightness Between Us, as well as Charming Young Man, Endangered, and Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality. His books have twice been named finalists for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature and have garnered a Printz Honor, a Stonewall Honor, and the Green Earth Book Award. He is on the faculty of the creative writing MFA program at Hamline University and lives with his husband in New York City. Visit him online at eliotschrefer.com. 

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