“Never Anyone But You” by Rupert Thomson

I hate it when this happens. I don't even remember when I finished reading this book--two weeks ago? Three? And here I am only now getting around to blogging about it. 

I remember that I really enjoyed reading this book; it's very well written, and a compelling narrative. I remember it wasn't one of my favorites of all time, but it also wasn't one of those I found it hard to get into. I also remember being impressed that it's basically a true story, albeit one I had previously been completely unfamiliar with. 

The book is an intimate portrait of Suzanne Malherbe (later Marcel Moore) and Lucie Schwob (later Claude Cahun), but it is also a broader chronicle of life in Europe, spanning the time from before the first world war until after the second. 

Lucie and Suzanne first meet as teenagers, and they immediately feel a powerful connection. From that moment on, their love--facilitated by the fact that they end up as stepsisters--is strong and enduring, even if not perfect or reliably happy. Both artistic in their own way, they spend the interwar years in the exhilarating bohemain circles of Paris. By the beginning of the Second World War, they are living a more tranquil and private life on the Isle of Jersey, but hostilities soon encroach as the Nazis occupy the island. 

The history-driven plot is never the point of the book, though. Its true weight lies in the relationship between Lucie and Suzanne.