In the Absence of Men

In the Absence of Men is a novel by Philippe Besson published originally in French by Éditions Julliard in 2001. Besson's first novel, it won the prix Emmanuel-Roblès.

The first novel by Besson, he had to send the manuscript to seven or eight publishers eventually settling on the publisher Julliard.^[1] An English translation was published in 2003.

The novel is divided into two parts. In part one, during the summer of 1916, a French teenager named Vincent de l'Etoile experiences an intense love with a soldier named Arthur Vales who is on leave from the French front of World War I. During this time of extreme tension, the romance becomes a respite for both. Vincent also befriends a well-known but unnamed French author. The second part of the novel is a series of letters between Vincent and Arthur and Vincent and the unnamed author.

In 2001 the French edition of the novel won the Prix Emmanuel-Roblès and the first winner of Prix premier Roman de Culture et bibliothèques pour tous de la Sarthe.^[2][3] The English translation received positive reviews from several publications including Kirkus Reviews, and the Washington Post.^[4][5]