I knew I was in Paris, I knew that was the Seine beneath me, the sky above, but when I looked around for help, the grand apartment buildings of the Quai Voltaire stared back at me, indifferent.

In the sixth arrondissement everything is perfect except for the loneliness. This is the Paris of thirteen-year-old Paul. Shy and unloved, he quietly observes the lives of the self-involved grown-ups around him: his glamorous Maman, Severine, her younger musician lover, Gabriel, and his fitness-obsessed Papa, Philippe. Always overlooked, it’s only a matter of time before Paul witnesses something that he’s not supposed to see.

Seeking solace in an unlikely friendship with tear-away classmate Scarlett and the temptation of the numerous patisseries in his elegant neighbourhood, Paul searches for unconditional love. But what will he do if he can’t find it?

Alicia Drake evokes contemporary Parisian life with the subtlety of a latter day Francois Sagan, and she captures in Paul the pains of adolescence as poignantly as Salinger’s Holden Caulfield. I Love You Too Much is a novel of extraordinary intelligence and heart, a devastating coming of age story told from the sidelines of Parisian perfection.