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Stowaways
This contemporary twist on Brief Encounter is a tender meditation on what might have been.
'Maybe we love people because they won't let us know them.'
A summer's evening in Manhattan. Nothing - not cold drinks, not showers not a stroll through the chilly aisles of an all-night drugstore - can undo the heat's hold on the city. Julian is half watching the evening news, his husband filling the dishwasher. That's when it arrives. An email with the subject 'From Paul Axel'. An email about a dead man from Chloe - a woman Julian has never met. Paul has left a message he'd like her to relay.
Emails are exchanged. Morning coffee at the Bryant Park Grill is agreed. Chloe, fulfilling Paul's final request, wonders how she will tell Julian of a life - and a love - he has no idea existed. A life, encased in a flash drive, containing multitudes.
'Maybe we love people because they won't let us know them.'
A summer's evening in Manhattan. Nothing - not cold drinks, not showers not a stroll through the chilly aisles of an all-night drugstore - can undo the heat's hold on the city. Julian is half watching the evening news, his husband filling the dishwasher. That's when it arrives. An email with the subject 'From Paul Axel'. An email about a dead man from Chloe - a woman Julian has never met. Paul has left a message he'd like her to relay.
Emails are exchanged. Morning coffee at the Bryant Park Grill is agreed. Chloe, fulfilling Paul's final request, wonders how she will tell Julian of a life - and a love - he has no idea existed. A life, encased in a flash drive, containing multitudes.
112 pages, Hardcover
Published February 12, 2026
41 people are currently reading
672 people want to read
About the author
André Aciman
56 books10.4k followersAndré Aciman was born in Alexandria, Egypt and is an American memoirist, essayist, novelist, and scholar of seventeenth-century literature. He has also written many essays and reviews on Marcel Proust. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The New Republic, Condé Nast Traveler as well as in many volumes of The Best American Essays. Aciman received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University, has taught at Princeton and Bard and is Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at The CUNY Graduate Center. He is currently chair of the Ph. D. Program in Comparative Literature and founder and director of The Writers' Institute at the Graduate Center.
Aciman is the author of the Whiting Award-winning memoir Out of Egypt (1995), an account of his childhood as a Jew growing up in post-colonial Egypt. Aciman has published two other books: False Papers: Essays in Exile and Memory (2001), and a novel Call Me By Your Name (2007), which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Lambda Literary Award for Men's Fiction (2008). His forthcoming novel Eight White Nights (FSG) will be published on February 14, 2010
Aciman is the author of the Whiting Award-winning memoir Out of Egypt (1995), an account of his childhood as a Jew growing up in post-colonial Egypt. Aciman has published two other books: False Papers: Essays in Exile and Memory (2001), and a novel Call Me By Your Name (2007), which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and won the Lambda Literary Award for Men's Fiction (2008). His forthcoming novel Eight White Nights (FSG) will be published on February 14, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
March 23, 2026
"One becomes a stowaway when there's nothing left to look forward to and all one does then is look back and question everything."
André Aciman is a writer who can explore the depth of the human condition in all its forms. Stowaways is a short novella but with a depth that will pull you back for second read.
This is a story of love - a tale that links two individuals following the death of a mutual friend. Both had different types of relationship with the deceased but unknowingly there was unrequited love.
This is primarily a conversation between two strangers as they navigate the passing of a close friend and a casual acquaintance; but there is a revelation and it is this that is at the crux of the story - how do we respond when enlightened upon something; are we blind for do we subconsciously know? A philosophical discussion.
A book about love and the passing of time; a book about regrets and the unspoken ; but most of all a book that makes us reflect upon whether we are truly living a full existence whilst here.
Poignant, heart-warming, stimulating and challenging.
All readers should recognise something of themselves in this story.
This is a book that is still lingering after two reads.
Quotes"
"And maybe this is what love is : finding someone who allows us to access not the life we've been given and were asked to live, but the life we're owed."
" We love those we cannot know. It's our first and last move. Intimacy, he used to say, is best with strangers. We're seldom who we are with those we know."
Thank you to Faber and Faber and Netgalley for the advance copy
André Aciman is a writer who can explore the depth of the human condition in all its forms. Stowaways is a short novella but with a depth that will pull you back for second read.
This is a story of love - a tale that links two individuals following the death of a mutual friend. Both had different types of relationship with the deceased but unknowingly there was unrequited love.
This is primarily a conversation between two strangers as they navigate the passing of a close friend and a casual acquaintance; but there is a revelation and it is this that is at the crux of the story - how do we respond when enlightened upon something; are we blind for do we subconsciously know? A philosophical discussion.
A book about love and the passing of time; a book about regrets and the unspoken ; but most of all a book that makes us reflect upon whether we are truly living a full existence whilst here.
Poignant, heart-warming, stimulating and challenging.
All readers should recognise something of themselves in this story.
This is a book that is still lingering after two reads.
Quotes"
"And maybe this is what love is : finding someone who allows us to access not the life we've been given and were asked to live, but the life we're owed."
" We love those we cannot know. It's our first and last move. Intimacy, he used to say, is best with strangers. We're seldom who we are with those we know."
Thank you to Faber and Faber and Netgalley for the advance copy
March 2, 2026
I exclusively read this book standing outside when the rare winter sun deigned to make an appearance; it is a testament to Aciman's writing then that I truly felt transported to an early evening in the peak of summer. This is a charming novella with a simple but moving premise, and Aciman's penchant for writing of yearning, longing, life-spanning lost loves, missed opportunities and regret really shines in this sun-soaked, bittersweet book.
March 2, 2026
2.5
como é que um livro que tem 95 páginas com margens LARGAS é tão repetitivo?
como é que um livro que tem 95 páginas com margens LARGAS é tão repetitivo?
November 4, 2025
A quick tale of unexpressed love that’s fairly disposable but passes the time.
November 22, 2025
A moving meditation on the unanswered questions that follow loss, woven through an intimate conversation between strangers.
February 20, 2026
Oh boy.
This one was frustrating.
Aciman shows such good ideas for a novella that easily could have turned out good, if not even great.
Shame however that he produced one of the most poorly constructed stories I have ever had the displeasure to read. It constantly made me feel that not enough time or effort was put into executing a decent novella, as if he didn't care enough to actually give his ideas space to develop and mature.
Now, Paul, the titular "stowaway in his own life" is a great and complex character, that I wanted to read and know more about. His distrust of luck and romanticism of distant longing were, sometimes, put into beautiful words by Aciman and felt so human, it almost made my tear up.
Almost and not actually, due to the only conversing characters being flat pieces of wood, that were never consistent, never authentic, never artful, never good. They didn't feel like they knew Paul. While one on them, Carol, was a lifelong friend of the late romantic, Julian only knew him on quite a shallow basis.
However, this doesn't stop the author of writing him like an absolute know-it-all that constantly theorizes with Carol (again, his lifelong friend) about Paul's motives and feelings. Which in itself is kind of weird, until you consider that he never fails to 'teach' Carol on what Paul actually felt.
Oh, also this book loves to spell out anything you could call subtext directly so even the dumb ones get it. This is the thing I hated the absolute most about this novella and only because I don't want to type it out I will leave it at this. Hated this.
Also fake funny and fake profound all the way through (with some exceptions as mentioned in the first part of this review)
Fuck this, fuck you André Aciman, put some effort in next time
This one was frustrating.
Aciman shows such good ideas for a novella that easily could have turned out good, if not even great.
Shame however that he produced one of the most poorly constructed stories I have ever had the displeasure to read. It constantly made me feel that not enough time or effort was put into executing a decent novella, as if he didn't care enough to actually give his ideas space to develop and mature.
Now, Paul, the titular "stowaway in his own life" is a great and complex character, that I wanted to read and know more about. His distrust of luck and romanticism of distant longing were, sometimes, put into beautiful words by Aciman and felt so human, it almost made my tear up.
Almost and not actually, due to the only conversing characters being flat pieces of wood, that were never consistent, never authentic, never artful, never good. They didn't feel like they knew Paul. While one on them, Carol, was a lifelong friend of the late romantic, Julian only knew him on quite a shallow basis.
However, this doesn't stop the author of writing him like an absolute know-it-all that constantly theorizes with Carol (again, his lifelong friend) about Paul's motives and feelings. Which in itself is kind of weird, until you consider that he never fails to 'teach' Carol on what Paul actually felt.
Oh, also this book loves to spell out anything you could call subtext directly so even the dumb ones get it. This is the thing I hated the absolute most about this novella and only because I don't want to type it out I will leave it at this. Hated this.
Also fake funny and fake profound all the way through (with some exceptions as mentioned in the first part of this review)
Fuck this, fuck you André Aciman, put some effort in next time
February 15, 2026
“So, you didn’t know or didn’t want to know?”
“He liked to repeat things that became funny by virtue of being repeated.”
“(…) the pictures when he was a boy, the mug he liked (…) all left behind for those who’ll never know what to do with them and will keep them for decades until those who come after will throw them away to remind us that despite our best efforts, we’ll be, yes, forgotten.”
“Some rush to speak their heart, others stand and wait. I didn’t wait, says Dennis. I didn’t either, says Julian. We’re lucky. Well, we are lucky, very lucky. Not stowaways, then? Never stowaways.”
“He liked to repeat things that became funny by virtue of being repeated.”
“(…) the pictures when he was a boy, the mug he liked (…) all left behind for those who’ll never know what to do with them and will keep them for decades until those who come after will throw them away to remind us that despite our best efforts, we’ll be, yes, forgotten.”
“Some rush to speak their heart, others stand and wait. I didn’t wait, says Dennis. I didn’t either, says Julian. We’re lucky. Well, we are lucky, very lucky. Not stowaways, then? Never stowaways.”
March 30, 2026
I went into Stowaway by André Aciman expecting something quietly reflective and emotionally sharp, but instead it left me strangely detached… and, more often than not, bored.
The premise has potential: a chance connection between two people, circling around the memory of a man they both knew (or think they knew), and the idea of someone being a “stowaway” in their own life. On paper, it sounds like fertile ground for something introspective and haunting. And to be fair, there are flashes where Aciman’s writing reminds you why he’s so admired - moments of insight about longing, missed chances, and emotional distance that almost land with real weight.
But “almost” is doing a lot of work here.
The biggest issue is that the story never fully comes alive. The central conversation (the backbone of the novella) feels stiff and artificial, as though both characters are speaking in the same overly polished, philosophical voice. It’s the kind of dialogue that reads like prose dressed up as speech, and it creates a barrier rather than intimacy. Instead of drawing you into their shared unraveling of Paul’s life, it keeps you at arm’s length.
That distance is made worse by the characters themselves. None of them feel particularly grounded or engaging. The two narrators come across as self-absorbed and oddly interchangeable, while Paul, the supposed emotional core, remains more of an idea than a person. You’re told a lot about him, his desires, his inner conflicts, but it rarely feels earned. There’s a sense that the story wants to be profound about him without giving him enough space to actually become real.
For such a short book, it also feels surprisingly slow. Not in a meditative, deliberate way, but in a way that drags. The narrative circles the same points without deepening them, and what should feel like layered reflection instead becomes repetitive. By the end, I didn’t feel like I understood the characters any better, I just felt like I’d spent a long time listening to them talk around something that never quite materialised.
What’s frustrating is that you can see the outline of a much stronger story here. The themes: unrequited love, emotional invisibility, the stories we construct about other people, are compelling. But the execution feels underdeveloped, as though the novella needed either more depth or a sharper focus. As it stands, it’s in an awkward middle ground: too slight to fully explore its ideas, yet too drawn out to feel concise.
I didn’t actively dislike it, but it’s the kind of book that fades almost immediately after finishing. There’s no lingering emotional impact, no character that sticks with you, no line that echoes back later. Just a vague sense of having read something that wanted to be meaningful but never quite got there.
In the end, Stowaway feels less like a fully realised story and more like a sketch of one - well-written in places, but ultimately forgettable.
The premise has potential: a chance connection between two people, circling around the memory of a man they both knew (or think they knew), and the idea of someone being a “stowaway” in their own life. On paper, it sounds like fertile ground for something introspective and haunting. And to be fair, there are flashes where Aciman’s writing reminds you why he’s so admired - moments of insight about longing, missed chances, and emotional distance that almost land with real weight.
But “almost” is doing a lot of work here.
The biggest issue is that the story never fully comes alive. The central conversation (the backbone of the novella) feels stiff and artificial, as though both characters are speaking in the same overly polished, philosophical voice. It’s the kind of dialogue that reads like prose dressed up as speech, and it creates a barrier rather than intimacy. Instead of drawing you into their shared unraveling of Paul’s life, it keeps you at arm’s length.
That distance is made worse by the characters themselves. None of them feel particularly grounded or engaging. The two narrators come across as self-absorbed and oddly interchangeable, while Paul, the supposed emotional core, remains more of an idea than a person. You’re told a lot about him, his desires, his inner conflicts, but it rarely feels earned. There’s a sense that the story wants to be profound about him without giving him enough space to actually become real.
For such a short book, it also feels surprisingly slow. Not in a meditative, deliberate way, but in a way that drags. The narrative circles the same points without deepening them, and what should feel like layered reflection instead becomes repetitive. By the end, I didn’t feel like I understood the characters any better, I just felt like I’d spent a long time listening to them talk around something that never quite materialised.
What’s frustrating is that you can see the outline of a much stronger story here. The themes: unrequited love, emotional invisibility, the stories we construct about other people, are compelling. But the execution feels underdeveloped, as though the novella needed either more depth or a sharper focus. As it stands, it’s in an awkward middle ground: too slight to fully explore its ideas, yet too drawn out to feel concise.
I didn’t actively dislike it, but it’s the kind of book that fades almost immediately after finishing. There’s no lingering emotional impact, no character that sticks with you, no line that echoes back later. Just a vague sense of having read something that wanted to be meaningful but never quite got there.
In the end, Stowaway feels less like a fully realised story and more like a sketch of one - well-written in places, but ultimately forgettable.
February 22, 2026
A heartbreaking and thought-provoking tale of a man who lived as a stowaway in his own life, never expressing or exploring love or life truthfully or authentically, told through a conversation between two strangers.
My only criticism is that this novella was too short. I would have adored a full-length novel that explored Paul’s character more deeply and examined why he was the way he was.
Stowaways was heartbreakingly beautiful and a powerful reminder to live life to its fullest, to be happy no matter what, and to love with your whole heart so that, when you leave this world, you can say you truly lived.
My only criticism is that this novella was too short. I would have adored a full-length novel that explored Paul’s character more deeply and examined why he was the way he was.
Stowaways was heartbreakingly beautiful and a powerful reminder to live life to its fullest, to be happy no matter what, and to love with your whole heart so that, when you leave this world, you can say you truly lived.
March 4, 2026
There is just something about Aciman’s novels that make me indescribably sad when I finish them. Part of me wants to continue reading; will Julian read Paul’s diary? Do Carol and Julian meet up frequently to remember Paul? Did Julian actually read the rose and the artichoke. So many questions are still circling around my brain.
Aciman has a gift for taking some of the most profound questions we have in life and expose them to his readers through characters that feel authentic. Julian, Paul and Carol could, quite literally, be any one of us. This makes reading his work so pleasurable. I am already looking forward to what Aciman might come up with next. Until then I am sure I will pick up this book every now and then and in my own way reminisce
Aciman has a gift for taking some of the most profound questions we have in life and expose them to his readers through characters that feel authentic. Julian, Paul and Carol could, quite literally, be any one of us. This makes reading his work so pleasurable. I am already looking forward to what Aciman might come up with next. Until then I am sure I will pick up this book every now and then and in my own way reminisce
February 17, 2026
3.85 stars - I’ll read anything Aciman writes and this was a valentines gift that I was very happy to receive!
With Aciman’s writing it is about more than the prose, it’s about the experience of interconnection between humans. That weird and beautiful essence of what it is to be human, to lust, love, live and to lose.
It’s contemplative and quiet.
There were elements that I wasn’t entirely sold on namely the ‘relationship’ between Paul & Julian - the ambiguity felt contradictory at times.
With Aciman’s writing it is about more than the prose, it’s about the experience of interconnection between humans. That weird and beautiful essence of what it is to be human, to lust, love, live and to lose.
It’s contemplative and quiet.
There were elements that I wasn’t entirely sold on namely the ‘relationship’ between Paul & Julian - the ambiguity felt contradictory at times.
March 5, 2026
It’s always a treat to know what is going on in André Aciman’s head. This one is about unrequited love that dared not risk unbalancing the existing minimal contact.
There’s a lot of conversation - two people teasing out exactly what it meant to be the recipient of ‘true love’ that never happened.
It’s not a rollicking story, it’s more a psychological back and forth, accompanied by plenty of coffees. Read it as a short story, and it’s perfectly passible and pleasant.
There’s a lot of conversation - two people teasing out exactly what it meant to be the recipient of ‘true love’ that never happened.
It’s not a rollicking story, it’s more a psychological back and forth, accompanied by plenty of coffees. Read it as a short story, and it’s perfectly passible and pleasant.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2026
A great read. Though I could go for more plot and character depth. But emotionally gutting.
We all wonder of our what-could've-been's when the courage to ask/action arrived way too late or hasn't arrived at all.
We all wonder of our what-could've-been's when the courage to ask/action arrived way too late or hasn't arrived at all.
Want to read
October 18, 2025LETS GO
February 12, 2026
2.5 stars. Although the writing was good it was so slow and boring for a 95 page book. I didn’t feel any emotions towards the characters either
March 16, 2026
Aciman is an amazing writer. He speaks of things that you don’t realize you actually feel! Amazing thought provoking book. I just wish it was 200 pages longer.
March 23, 2026
I devoured this. I cried. I chuckled. I want to read it again and savour some of the beautiful and evocative moments that capture everything and nothing at once.
Beautiful. Simply, beautiful.
Beautiful. Simply, beautiful.
March 28, 2026
"maybe we love people because they won't let us know them"
March 9, 2026
touching but i did get quite bored in the middle
March 28, 2026
Strange and devastating
February 25, 2026
Stowaways by André Aciman published February 12th with Faber & Faber and is described as a ‘contemporary twist on Brief Encounter…a tender meditation on what might have been.‘ Brief Encounter is the renowned 1945 film based on Noel Coward’s 1936 one-act play Still Life. I saw Still Life recently in the Cork Arts Theatre, brilliantly performed by the Lighthouse Theatre, a Welsh company, so on seeing the above comparison my curiosity was immediately piqued.
Julian is a young married lawyer on his way to the Hamptons for a weekend when he receives an email from Carol with Paul Axel as the subject line. Carol knew Paul Axel well but Julian only knew him in passing as an older gentlemen that he gave a perfunctory salute to most mornings in a local coffee shop. Carol and Julian arrange to meet for a coffee and, during one singular conversation, Carol tells Julian about Paul Axel. She reveals that, unbeknownst to Julian, his and Axel’s lives had become intertwined. The more Carol shares, the more Julian considers the contact he had had with Axel over the years. He thinks back to particular moments and begins to decipher more from these brief interactions, these brief encounters.
Subtle and intimate, their conversation explores the character that was Paul Axel, a man who apparently lived a life full of mystery and regret. In his vast journal Axel refers to what might have been, a different life, a secret yearning, with an overhanging sadness that permeates the air. As Carol attempts to deal with ‘the swell of grief that seized her’, she comes to realise some salient facts about her feelings toward Paul. She ponders on Julian and wonders how he will relay this strange encounter to his husband and friends. She contemplates her grief, her loss and where it has positioned her in life, considering how ‘we become those we love‘.
André Aciman is a New York based best-selling author who knows his city well. His descriptions spread like a watercolour before you with an elegance to his writing that contains so much depth. I will most certainly be choosing from André Aciman’s back catalogue in the weeks ahead.
Stowaways is a poignant and emotive story that lingers. A philosophical study of life and death, it is both reflective and tender, a bittersweet tale of longing and loss, a beautiful snapshot of a powerful moment.
Julian is a young married lawyer on his way to the Hamptons for a weekend when he receives an email from Carol with Paul Axel as the subject line. Carol knew Paul Axel well but Julian only knew him in passing as an older gentlemen that he gave a perfunctory salute to most mornings in a local coffee shop. Carol and Julian arrange to meet for a coffee and, during one singular conversation, Carol tells Julian about Paul Axel. She reveals that, unbeknownst to Julian, his and Axel’s lives had become intertwined. The more Carol shares, the more Julian considers the contact he had had with Axel over the years. He thinks back to particular moments and begins to decipher more from these brief interactions, these brief encounters.
Subtle and intimate, their conversation explores the character that was Paul Axel, a man who apparently lived a life full of mystery and regret. In his vast journal Axel refers to what might have been, a different life, a secret yearning, with an overhanging sadness that permeates the air. As Carol attempts to deal with ‘the swell of grief that seized her’, she comes to realise some salient facts about her feelings toward Paul. She ponders on Julian and wonders how he will relay this strange encounter to his husband and friends. She contemplates her grief, her loss and where it has positioned her in life, considering how ‘we become those we love‘.
André Aciman is a New York based best-selling author who knows his city well. His descriptions spread like a watercolour before you with an elegance to his writing that contains so much depth. I will most certainly be choosing from André Aciman’s back catalogue in the weeks ahead.
Stowaways is a poignant and emotive story that lingers. A philosophical study of life and death, it is both reflective and tender, a bittersweet tale of longing and loss, a beautiful snapshot of a powerful moment.
November 25, 2025
André Aciman’s Stowaways is a delicate, haunting vignette of what might have been—a brief but emotionally resonant meditation on memory, loss, and unseen lives. The story unfolds in a quiet Manhattan evening, with Julian receiving an unexpected email that unravels a past he never knew: a dead man left a flash-drive containing a secret life, and a woman named Chloe must deliver its contents.
What makes Stowaways shine is how Aciman captures the ache of unspoken love and hidden histories in just a few pages. His prose is lyrical, with his signature elegance, but it is quieter here than in his longer works—there’s a restraint that suits the slim form perfectly. The mystery of the flash drive isn’t a thriller’s “who-dun-it,” but a tender exploration of regret and possibility: not so much what happens, but what could have happened.
The emotional weight is subtle but deeply felt. Julian’s life feels stable: domestic, routine, even comfortable. Chloe’s sudden entry into that life—through the message of a man she never met—feels both intrusive and inevitable. Their connection feels fragile; their shared burden full of unspoken grief. Aciman handles this with care, never forcing melodrama but allowing small heartbreaks to linger.
If there’s a flaw, it’s simply that the story is over so soon. At around 112 pages, Stowaways sometimes feels like a prologue to a larger novel—readers may long for more resolution, more depth, more of Chloe’s backstory. And because of its brevity, some characters remain only partially sketched.
Still, as a short literary piece, Stowaways succeeds beautifully. It’s not a sweeping epic—but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a quiet elegy, a love letter to the roads not taken, and a reminder that sometimes the most important parts of our lives are the ones we never lived.
Verdict: A tender, bittersweet “what if” wrapped in Aciman’s graceful prose. Highly recommended for readers who appreciate emotional subtlety and the weight of possibility.
What makes Stowaways shine is how Aciman captures the ache of unspoken love and hidden histories in just a few pages. His prose is lyrical, with his signature elegance, but it is quieter here than in his longer works—there’s a restraint that suits the slim form perfectly. The mystery of the flash drive isn’t a thriller’s “who-dun-it,” but a tender exploration of regret and possibility: not so much what happens, but what could have happened.
The emotional weight is subtle but deeply felt. Julian’s life feels stable: domestic, routine, even comfortable. Chloe’s sudden entry into that life—through the message of a man she never met—feels both intrusive and inevitable. Their connection feels fragile; their shared burden full of unspoken grief. Aciman handles this with care, never forcing melodrama but allowing small heartbreaks to linger.
If there’s a flaw, it’s simply that the story is over so soon. At around 112 pages, Stowaways sometimes feels like a prologue to a larger novel—readers may long for more resolution, more depth, more of Chloe’s backstory. And because of its brevity, some characters remain only partially sketched.
Still, as a short literary piece, Stowaways succeeds beautifully. It’s not a sweeping epic—but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a quiet elegy, a love letter to the roads not taken, and a reminder that sometimes the most important parts of our lives are the ones we never lived.
Verdict: A tender, bittersweet “what if” wrapped in Aciman’s graceful prose. Highly recommended for readers who appreciate emotional subtlety and the weight of possibility.
November 25, 2025
I was given a copy of Stowaways by André Aciman from Faber and Faber and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I've clearly 'made it' on Goodreads, as my prior request to review Aciman's previous work was rejected. I'm not sure if I would have preferred The Gentleman by the Sea, as Stowaways, a short novella, proved a slightly difficult book to touch base with. This is, I guess, a bit Brief Encounter-y, although nothing quite like the wonderful film. Instead, we have a guy called Julian who seems a little clueless and a woman called Chloe, who has sent him an email about Paul. Paul has died, in somewhat tragic circumstances; however, Paul, not saying what he wanted to say in real life, left his diary as evidence of his feelings. Paul was sort of obsessed with Julian in a twee way, as they met in Starbucks and never quite spoke. I'm not saying that these kinds of encounters don't exist, but as a novella, it felt a little stretched, as we find out about the motivations behind Paul's existence.
Good grammar can indeed be sexy; however, in this book, we have a sort of pseudo-literary conversation about metaphors and other literary devices. I would say that having characters show off their intelligence is quite off-putting. In the wonderful Adrian Mole diaries, a short aside about Pandora Braithwaite, the pedant, was wonderfully done. The original expression about an animal in the room was a rhinoceros, not an elephant in the room. It's a quick aside that is memorable. The intellectualism between the lead characters is not particularly welcomed. The ending, hardly a spoiler, leads to the Stowaways line. The tricky element of a novella is ensuring memorable moments in a short period of time. This was more of an abstract meeting that felt like shining a little light into the characters' lives, but with a very dim bulb.
I've clearly 'made it' on Goodreads, as my prior request to review Aciman's previous work was rejected. I'm not sure if I would have preferred The Gentleman by the Sea, as Stowaways, a short novella, proved a slightly difficult book to touch base with. This is, I guess, a bit Brief Encounter-y, although nothing quite like the wonderful film. Instead, we have a guy called Julian who seems a little clueless and a woman called Chloe, who has sent him an email about Paul. Paul has died, in somewhat tragic circumstances; however, Paul, not saying what he wanted to say in real life, left his diary as evidence of his feelings. Paul was sort of obsessed with Julian in a twee way, as they met in Starbucks and never quite spoke. I'm not saying that these kinds of encounters don't exist, but as a novella, it felt a little stretched, as we find out about the motivations behind Paul's existence.
Good grammar can indeed be sexy; however, in this book, we have a sort of pseudo-literary conversation about metaphors and other literary devices. I would say that having characters show off their intelligence is quite off-putting. In the wonderful Adrian Mole diaries, a short aside about Pandora Braithwaite, the pedant, was wonderfully done. The original expression about an animal in the room was a rhinoceros, not an elephant in the room. It's a quick aside that is memorable. The intellectualism between the lead characters is not particularly welcomed. The ending, hardly a spoiler, leads to the Stowaways line. The tricky element of a novella is ensuring memorable moments in a short period of time. This was more of an abstract meeting that felt like shining a little light into the characters' lives, but with a very dim bulb.
March 10, 2026
I was honestly shocked by how much I enjoyed this tiny book and how many strong emotions it pulled out of me in less than 100 pages.
The story is essentially one meeting between two people, Carol and Julian. Carol arrives with strange news. Her deceased friend Paul kept diary entries for five years about Julian, writing about his love and longing for him without Julian ever knowing. Julian had absolutely no idea.
The premise alone felt really original and quietly heartbreaking. It made me think about all the people we cross paths with in life and what versions of us they carry with them, if any at all. It is such a strange thought that someone might hold an entire emotional world around you while you move through life completely unaware. I think this book will make me think differently about small everyday interactions.
What follows is Carol and Julian trying to piece together who Paul really was. They wonder why he never acted on his feelings and what his gestures toward Julian actually meant. A lot remains a mystery, which left me with that lingering feeling of wanting more in the best possible way. Sometimes what is left unsaid has the biggest impact.
The writing is beautiful and descriptive and heartfelt, but it is also sharp and entertaining. The conversation between Carol and Julian has this quick sarcastic energy that keeps the whole thing lively even while it is dealing with something quite sad.
A really enjoyable small read. And now I am slightly convinced that everyone who says hello to me in a coffee shop might secretly be in love with me.
4 stars. I only wish it were longer and that we had seen a little more of Julian’s life and a bit more of Paul’s history.
The story is essentially one meeting between two people, Carol and Julian. Carol arrives with strange news. Her deceased friend Paul kept diary entries for five years about Julian, writing about his love and longing for him without Julian ever knowing. Julian had absolutely no idea.
The premise alone felt really original and quietly heartbreaking. It made me think about all the people we cross paths with in life and what versions of us they carry with them, if any at all. It is such a strange thought that someone might hold an entire emotional world around you while you move through life completely unaware. I think this book will make me think differently about small everyday interactions.
What follows is Carol and Julian trying to piece together who Paul really was. They wonder why he never acted on his feelings and what his gestures toward Julian actually meant. A lot remains a mystery, which left me with that lingering feeling of wanting more in the best possible way. Sometimes what is left unsaid has the biggest impact.
The writing is beautiful and descriptive and heartfelt, but it is also sharp and entertaining. The conversation between Carol and Julian has this quick sarcastic energy that keeps the whole thing lively even while it is dealing with something quite sad.
A really enjoyable small read. And now I am slightly convinced that everyone who says hello to me in a coffee shop might secretly be in love with me.
4 stars. I only wish it were longer and that we had seen a little more of Julian’s life and a bit more of Paul’s history.
February 10, 2026
Diabolically bad. One day this string of novellas will surely be revealed to be an inside joke or something. Aciman’s non-fiction that I’ve read has been good, so how can his fiction be *this* poor. Tin-ear dialogue, the sort of lines that romance writers would be dragged over the coals for, people falling in love over spilled Starbucks coffee (on the fifth mention of Starbucks you begin to wonder if the brand will sue for defamation), and, of course, the women are written atrociously: stoical one moment, ‘giggling’ the next. Even his negative reviews tend to refer to the elegance of his sentences, but…am I the crazy one here?? Is a sentence like ‘That impish look crept back on his lips and eyes.’ a good one?? Isn’t it horribly inelegant? From a page later: ‘And the date at the top of the picture said it all: seven months ago, he thought.’ To say this is first draft stuff is being generous. It reads like either Aciman is dictating from the couch a la late Henry James but without the talent or, and I know this is a hacky line but seriously, he’s giving prompts to generative AIs like ‘middling novella with no discernible style’.
The jacket alleges that this novel is a reworking of Brief Encounter, but we can only accept this in the way we’d call a fiery wreck a ‘reworking’ of the car it had once been.
Aciman probably wrote this in a week; I read it in a day; I wrote this in about five minutes; and I’ll forget about it in thirty seconds if I’m lucky.
I don’t want it to seem like that impish look is creeping back on my lips and eyes but I’m going to put this book in the bin.
The jacket alleges that this novel is a reworking of Brief Encounter, but we can only accept this in the way we’d call a fiery wreck a ‘reworking’ of the car it had once been.
Aciman probably wrote this in a week; I read it in a day; I wrote this in about five minutes; and I’ll forget about it in thirty seconds if I’m lucky.
I don’t want it to seem like that impish look is creeping back on my lips and eyes but I’m going to put this book in the bin.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Stowaways is a novella by Egyptian-born American author, Andre Aciman. Julian, a litigator in his late thirties, receives an email from someone he doesn’t know. It’s the subject line, from Paul Axel, that prevents him from deleting it.
Sixty-something Chloe has been reading the journals of her one-time lover, in which Julian gets copious mentions, and believes the young man might like to read them. She knows they saw each other regularly at Starbucks in the mornings. Until Paul killed himself.
They meet at a Grill and she explains her relationship with Paul: “ Paul was in love with me. He’d been in love with me for decades. When we met, I was barely eighteen, he was twenty. I did love him, but more like a brother, though he definitely had no brotherly feelings for me.”
She explains that the journals reveal that Paul was in love with Julian, but “By the time he fell for you he was already a damaged soul. He knew he was damaged. And for that he had no one to blame but me. I forced him to trade an unlived life for a life misspent. I killed something in him. Passion? Trust? Vigour? Fun? Who’ll ever know.”
Thereafter, the pair spend some time analysing what Paul wrote and how he acted and reacted. They get quite speculative, theorising on his emotions and motivations, which gets a bit tedious, and certainly doesn’t endear the reader to Chloe, grieving though she may be. Not Aciman’s best.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Faber & Faber.
Sixty-something Chloe has been reading the journals of her one-time lover, in which Julian gets copious mentions, and believes the young man might like to read them. She knows they saw each other regularly at Starbucks in the mornings. Until Paul killed himself.
They meet at a Grill and she explains her relationship with Paul: “ Paul was in love with me. He’d been in love with me for decades. When we met, I was barely eighteen, he was twenty. I did love him, but more like a brother, though he definitely had no brotherly feelings for me.”
She explains that the journals reveal that Paul was in love with Julian, but “By the time he fell for you he was already a damaged soul. He knew he was damaged. And for that he had no one to blame but me. I forced him to trade an unlived life for a life misspent. I killed something in him. Passion? Trust? Vigour? Fun? Who’ll ever know.”
Thereafter, the pair spend some time analysing what Paul wrote and how he acted and reacted. They get quite speculative, theorising on his emotions and motivations, which gets a bit tedious, and certainly doesn’t endear the reader to Chloe, grieving though she may be. Not Aciman’s best.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Faber & Faber.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
As a short and fleeting work, I read this in one sitting. In a very sparse, witty and conversational manner, it manages to delve somewhat deep into a philosophical exploration of the human condition, longing and the things that are left unsaid. More importantly, the consequences of things that could have been, but never will, the knowing but neglecting to acknowledge, the acknowledging but never acting, and the consequences it has on yourself and those you hold close.
This work can be taken at a very face-value novella, or it can be deeply explored and the questions which are momentarily asked and answered in this, can become expansive and c0nsiderate.
It is left very open, and not many questions are given answers which I liked a lot; through this it remains true to its concept and to maintaining the plot, reflecting Paul and his relationships with both Carol and Julian.
I liked how both Carol and Julian seem to be aspects of Paul in dialogue, the back and forth reminds me a lot of a philosophical dialogue which concedes and refutes, asks questions back, flips them on the interlocutor, etc.
It is at least a heart-warming but brief conversation between two strangers over the loss of a mutual friend and at most it is a contemplation of life, living it, feeling it, what we mean to others and the philosophical undercurrent of all of these concepts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for the ARC edition of this work!
This work can be taken at a very face-value novella, or it can be deeply explored and the questions which are momentarily asked and answered in this, can become expansive and c0nsiderate.
It is left very open, and not many questions are given answers which I liked a lot; through this it remains true to its concept and to maintaining the plot, reflecting Paul and his relationships with both Carol and Julian.
I liked how both Carol and Julian seem to be aspects of Paul in dialogue, the back and forth reminds me a lot of a philosophical dialogue which concedes and refutes, asks questions back, flips them on the interlocutor, etc.
It is at least a heart-warming but brief conversation between two strangers over the loss of a mutual friend and at most it is a contemplation of life, living it, feeling it, what we mean to others and the philosophical undercurrent of all of these concepts.
Thank you to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for the ARC edition of this work!
December 20, 2025
Stowaways is a reflective, quietly aching novella that explores the lingering pull of memory, lost love, and the versions of ourselves that exist only in the past. Aciman’s signature introspective style is fully present here—elegant prose, intimate emotional nuance, and a deep sense of longing threaded through every conversation and memory. The premise is compelling: a stranger reaches out with revelations about a hidden love and a life the protagonist never knew existed, forcing him to confront the “what ifs” that have shadowed his present.
While beautifully written, the novella can sometimes feel more like an extended meditation than a fully realized narrative. The emotional weight is rich but slow-burning, and readers looking for plot-driven momentum may find it meandering. The story thrives in atmosphere and introspection rather than dramatic turns, lingering in pauses, hesitations, and unspoken emotion.
Still, Stowaways offers thoughtful reflections on identity, intimacy, and the way old loves haunt new lives. It’s a restrained, bittersweet read—subtle, contemplative, and resonant, even if it doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of Aciman’s most beloved works.
While beautifully written, the novella can sometimes feel more like an extended meditation than a fully realized narrative. The emotional weight is rich but slow-burning, and readers looking for plot-driven momentum may find it meandering. The story thrives in atmosphere and introspection rather than dramatic turns, lingering in pauses, hesitations, and unspoken emotion.
Still, Stowaways offers thoughtful reflections on identity, intimacy, and the way old loves haunt new lives. It’s a restrained, bittersweet read—subtle, contemplative, and resonant, even if it doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of Aciman’s most beloved works.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I’d like to thank NetGalley and Faber and Faber ltd for the chance to read this arc for an honest review.
The writing is sublime, leaves you aching, teary but full.
As someone who has a lot of grief in this last year this book was almost a healing tonic to my broken and bruised heart.
You truly never know how people feel about you or how you feel about someone untill you cannot speak to tell or share a meal a smile a dirty joke or a boogie in the kitchen.
The premise is very unique and wonderful, makes me want to write a diary with all my thoughts on well everything.
Although the main character whom the book is about is dead he seeps into the paragraphs, the storyteller is in the story.
A small quote that made me smile whilst teary
“Death is a long, long void, far larger than the sum total of all the constellations in the universe lying trillions of light years away, where even God isn't waiting at the end of the road, because there is no end to that road. Death is everlasting and, even after the universe is swallowed up and rolled up into a tiny speck, death will outlast that speck.”
I will never forget the big blank
The writing is sublime, leaves you aching, teary but full.
As someone who has a lot of grief in this last year this book was almost a healing tonic to my broken and bruised heart.
You truly never know how people feel about you or how you feel about someone untill you cannot speak to tell or share a meal a smile a dirty joke or a boogie in the kitchen.
The premise is very unique and wonderful, makes me want to write a diary with all my thoughts on well everything.
Although the main character whom the book is about is dead he seeps into the paragraphs, the storyteller is in the story.
A small quote that made me smile whilst teary
“Death is a long, long void, far larger than the sum total of all the constellations in the universe lying trillions of light years away, where even God isn't waiting at the end of the road, because there is no end to that road. Death is everlasting and, even after the universe is swallowed up and rolled up into a tiny speck, death will outlast that speck.”
I will never forget the big blank
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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