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Published Oct 2023
288 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
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.
"[T]he author creates an intimate, sensitive, gay coming-of-age story. Each description paints a sensual image of Léon's world, from the rural idyll of his childhood home to his cramped Parisian apartment and Robert's sumptuous town house. Knowledge of the era is not necessary to enjoy Léon's story, but readers who do have that context will find even more to appreciate. Beautifully realized and a pleasure to read." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[I]nventive...Schrefer's Léon Delafosse, who is based on the real French pianist of the same name, is not only likable, but sensitive and resilient, and his perseverance amid dramatic ups and downs on his path toward happiness is engaging." —Publishers Weekly
"Charming Young Man is a gorgeous exploration of artistic talent and envy, wealth and power, art and desire wrapped up in a delicious, page-turner of a plot. I absolutely loved it." —Nina LaCour, author of Michael L. Printz Award–winner We Are Okay
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
After a childhood spent in Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, and Florida, he attended Harvard University, where he graduated with High Honors in French and American literature. He then spent a year teaching at a boarding school in Rome before settling down in New York City, where he writes fiction during the day and tutors for the SATs in the evening.
Eliot Schrefer is the author of Endangered, a 2012 National Book Award finalist in Young People's Literature. Schrefer journeyed to the Democratic Republic of Congo while researching the novel, and has since traveled wider as he's embarked on a quartet of novels about the great apes, one book for each primate, detailing a young person's relationship with that animal.
He is also the author of The Deadly Sister, The School for ...
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