Don't Miss

• NYRB Classics: Save 30%
• Paperback Favorites
  for Book Groups
• Springer Math Sale!
• Subscribe to Indiespensable

More at Powell's

• Featured Signed Editions
• Rare and Collectible Books
• eBooks | Audio | DVDs | Blu-ray

---

Original Essays | October 14, 2009

Will Design for Change...

0 comments By Emily Pilloton

About six months ago, at a fundraising event for the nonprofit I founded, Project H, a six-year-old girl handed me a pickle jar full of pennies.... Continue »

---

1. 
   $24.46 Sale Trade Paper add to wish list

   Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People

   Emily Pilloton

Report Comment

---

You are reporting a comment on the following title:

---

You are reporting the following comment:

velveetahead, May 9, 2009

Irina McGovern is an American children’s book illustrator living in London with her long-time boyfriend Lawrence that might as well be her husband. He is a solid, dependable man who isn’t very romantic or passionate. They have their routines and that’s pretty much what their life has become–a series of routines. That includes having dinner with another couple each year on the husband’s birthday. He’s a famous snooker player in London who is almost past his prime named Ramsey. Lawrence is fascinated with snooker and Ramsey. Irina is pretty bored by the annual dinners until one year after Ramsey gets a divorce and Lawrence is out of town on a business trip, he convinces Irina to keep the annual birthday dinner date with Ramsey. Ramsey is passionate about snooker, drinking and life. After a night of a bit too much flirting and drinking, it comes down to a moment where Irina could kiss Ramsey or leave before things can’t go back to how they were.

That is where the book splits to follow what happens depending on the decision Irina makes in that one moment. From there on out, each chapter alternates between the two different paths. I was surprised how each chapter veered so wildly from one another, but each version would still end up at the same big events throughout the years in Irina’s life.

I could not decide which life was better. All of the characters were so well written. They were fully formed with quirks and flaws. You would love a character one moment and then couldn’t stand him or her the next. I would think one choice was the best one, but then there would be a downside to the situation Irina would find herself in. Then the other one would seem better, but it would also have downsides. No one choice seemed like the best one and the ending brought both sides together in a way that completely made sense. It was a great character book and I highly recommend it.

---

Your email address:

---

Reason for report:

---

Are you a robot? We didn't think so. But just to be sure, please type what you see in the following image into the box below.

---

Confirmation:

Are you certain you wish to report this comment?

---

Terms and Conditions

We welcome your comments and ideas, but we ask that you refrain from:

• Obscenity
• Spam
• Illegal content
• Copyrighted material
• Commercial solicitations

By posting your comments you are granting the good people of Powells.com the right (but not the obligation) to make your comments available to others over the Internet, and to copy and distribute your comments via other media, in each case on a royalty free basis. These terms govern the rights and obligations of the person posting comments and Powells.com; there are no intended third party beneficiaries of these terms.

Posted comments are subject to monitoring, editing, and removal at any time. Please see our Terms of Use for our complete terms and conditions.

---

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

In accordance with The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, you must be at least 13 to submit comments on Powells.com.