The novel features a considerable number of bisexual or gay male characters – the adolescent Olivier and at least to a certain unacknowledged degree his friend Bernard, in all likelihood their schoolfellows Gontran and Philippe, and finally the adult writers the Comte de Passavant (who represents an evil and corrupting force) and the (more benevolent) Édouard.

Initially received coldly on its appearance, perhaps because of its homosexual themes and its unusual composition, The Counterfeiters has gained reputation in the intervening years and is now generally counted among the Western canon of literature.

Perhaps the most suspenseful scene in the book revolves around Boris, another illegitimate child and the grandson of La Pérouse, who commits suicide in front of the assembled class when dared by Ghéridanisol, another of Passavant's cohorts.

The two authors read each other parts of their respective manuscripts prior to publication, and remained on good terms thereafter, so it appears that neither felt wronged in any way by the similarities.

Édouard's journal entry in chapter 12 of the third part, which makes mention of a 1904 vintage wine, seems to confirm this supposition with a more specific range of time in which the novel is likely to be set.

[4] In 2010, a French TV film based on the novel was directed by Benoît Jacquot, starring Melvil Poupaud as Édouard X., Maxime Berger as Olivier, and Dolores Chaplin as Lady Lilian Griffith.