The Dream Lover by William Boyd
"The Dream Lover" by William Boyd explores the complex dynamics of friendship, rivalry, and identity among two young men studying in Nice, France. The story follows Edward, a reserved English student, and Preston, a wealthy American whose carefree lifestyle contrasts sharply with Edward's more modest existence. While Edward attends classes diligently, Preston frequently skips them, instead leveraging his charm to attract women, particularly French girls. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained as Edward grows uneasy with his role in facilitating Preston's pursuits, feeling "pimp-like" as he introduces several women to his friend.
Throughout the narrative, themes of jealousy, desperation, and cultural disconnect emerge, particularly as Edward develops a deeper connection with Annique, a law student from a family he dines with regularly. Meanwhile, Preston's manipulative tendencies and entitlement culminate in a dramatic reveal of his troubled past, including family conflicts that led to his isolation in France. As the story unfolds, Edward's compassion leads him to help Preston and his fiancée when they face financial ruin, ultimately highlighting the emotional complexities and moral ambiguities in their friendship. This novel provides a poignant reflection on youth, ambition, and the search for belonging against the backdrop of an idyllic yet unforgiving foreign landscape.
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The Dream Lover by William Boyd
First published: 1993
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The 1960's
Locale: Nice, France
Principal Characters:
Edward , the narrator, an English student studying French in Nice, FrancePreston , a seemingly rich American youth, also studying in NiceLois , Preston's fiancéAnnique Cambrai , the daughter of friends of Edward's motherIngrid , a young Norwegian womanDanni , a young Swedish woman
The Story
Lonely and temporarily out of ready cash because of a postal strike in England, Edward, a young Englishman studying French culture at the Centre Universitaire Nice, strikes up a friendship with Preston, an American student who seems to have a lot of money, never goes to class, and repeatedly asks Edward to introduce him to a French girl. Edward, the obliging but shy English student, promises to fix him up and eventually brings several girls from his classes to Preston's very modern studio apartment in the Résidence Les Anges, a posh place that stands in stark contrast to Edward's own dim apartment with Madame d'Amico. Edward goes to his classes; Preston rarely does.
Edward has one other social outlet, a regular Monday evening dinner date with a French couple, the Cambrais, who are friends of his mother, and their three daughters. However, other afternoons he is a regular visitor at Preston's place, drinking in the club or at the pool. Preston always expresses his wish that Edward bring a French girl for him. Edward learns that Preston is an only child and has a millionaire father who fails to send Preston the money he continually requests and a mother who divorced Preston's father and soon married another millionaire, giving Preston a choice of eight elegant homes to visit around the United States. It finally is revealed that Preston has been sent to Nice because he had seduced each of his three stepsisters, getting the oldest one pregnant.
Edward finally does take a girl from class to the club to meet Preston. However, she is not French, much to Preston's disappointment, but a Norwegian woman named Ingrid, who speaks perfect English and German. Ingrid also has very hairy armpits, which Preston finds quite erotic. A bit later Edward brings a second girl, a Swedish woman called Danni, who is voluptuous and blond but has a slightly withered leg owing to childhood polio. Meanwhile the barman, a portly unsmiling man named Serge, becomes more and more hostile to Preston and Edward because of their boisterous drinking, Preston's ever-increasing bar tab, and Preston's consistent rudeness to him. The other members of the French class now regard Edward with some interest because Ingrid and Danni have reported on their poolside afternoons with unlimited free booze; Edward, however, is beginning to feel "pimp-like."
Over the months of Monday night dinners with the Cambrais, Edward has developed a relationship with one of their daughters, Annique, a law student. Edward invites Annique to try out her American accent on Preston. She goes with Edward to meet Preston, but they discover that his fiancé, Lois, has arrived unexpectedly from the United States, solving for the moment Preston's financial stress by cashing in her return ticket. Lois assumes Annique and Edward are a couple, not realizing that he has brought her there for Preston, who now clearly envies Edward for having found a "dream lover," Preston's long-desired Platonic ideal of a beautiful French woman.
Edward's relationship with Annique develops further, to the point that Edward wants to taunt Preston with the news that they are looking for an apartment to share. So, after staying away from Preston and Lois for a while, Edward drops by his apartment to imply that he and Annique are having a lovely physical relationship. Before he can gloat, Lois, weeping, informs Edward that they are broke and desperate, and Preston asks if Edward can help them out. He does, spending nearly all he has to provide them with train tickets to Luxembourg and plane tickets to New York, relishing Preston's desperate jealousy of Edward's relationship with Annique and his despair at not having gained any knowledge of Nice, of France, or of himself during his stay there.