Book cover of Love Me Tender

Book description

'Destined to become a classic of its kind' Maggie Nelson

'One of the most compulsive voices I've read in years' Olivia Laing, Observer

When Constance told her ex-husband that she was dating women, he made a string of unfounded accusations that separated her from her young son, Paul. Laurent trained…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Love Me Tender as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In Love Me Tender, Constance Debre chronicles the aftermath of her marriage, when having left her husband for a woman, she loses custody of her young son. In short, discrete sections, and in language that is deceptively plain, she approaches her material with astonishing bluntness and from unexpected angles. It is a stunning read, a surprising page turner I read once through, and the n again.

I have never read a book about motherhood or writing like this one. As I read Debre’s autofictional account of losing custody of her child after leaving her marriage, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading something truly original.

Women are not supposed to leave their families to pursue their artistic ambitions, but Debre’s queer character does just that. This is a really slim, sometimes shocking book. I will admire and continue thinking about this book forever.

From Alice's list on women in the chaos of midlife.

If you love Love Me Tender...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Love Me Tender?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Love Me Tender.

Browse books like Love Me Tender

Book cover of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
Book cover of The Cost of Living
Book cover of Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume I 1978-1987

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Love Me Tender, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!