In this eagerly awaited new novel, Lionel Shriver, the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, delivers an imaginative and entertaining look at the implications, large and small, of whom we choose to love. Using a playful parallel-universe structure, The Post-Birthday World follows one woman's future as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.

Children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a quiet and settled life in London with her partner, fellow American expatriate Lawrence Trainer, a smart, loyal, disciplined intellectual at a prestigious think tank. To their small circle of friends, their relationship is rock solid. Until the night Irina unaccountably finds herself dying to kiss another man: their old friend from South London, the stylish, extravagant, passionate top-ranking snooker player Ramsey Acton. The decision to give in to temptation will have consequences for her career, her relationships with family and friends, and perhaps most importantly the texture of her daily life.

Hinging on a single kiss, this enchanting work of fiction depicts Irina's alternating futures with two men temperamentally worlds apart yet equally honorable. With which true love Irina is better off is neither obvious nor easy to determine, but Shriver's exploration of the two destinies is memorable and gripping. Poignant and deeply honest, written with the subtlety and wit that are the hallmarks of Shriver's work, The Post-Birthday World appeals to the what-if in us all.

"The smallest details of staid coupledom duel it out with a lusty alternate reality that begins when a woman passes up an opportunity to cheat on her longtime boyfriend in Shriver's latest (after the Orange Prize — winning We Need to Talk About Kevin). Irina McGovern, a children's book illustrator in London, lives in comfortable familiarity with husband-in-everything-but-marriage-certificate Lawrence Trainer, and every summer the two have dinner with their friend, the professional snooker player Ramsey Acton, to celebrate Ramsey's birthday. One year, following Ramsey's divorce and while terrorism specialist 'think tank wonk' Lawrence is in Sarajevo on business, Irina and Ramsey have dinner, and after cocktails and a spot of hash, Irina is tempted to kiss Ramsey. From this near-smooch, Shriver leads readers on a two-pronged narrative: one consisting of what Irina imagines would have happened if she had given in to temptation, the other showing Irina staying with Lawrence while fantasizing about Ramsey. With Jamesian patience, Shriver explores snooker tournaments and terrorism conferences, passionate lovemaking and passionless sex, and teases out her themes of ambition, self-recrimination and longing. The result is an impressive if exhausting novel." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"A layered and unflinching portrait of infidelity....Readers will wonder which choice was best for Irina, but Shriver masterfully confounds any attempt to arrive at a sure answer." Kirkus Reviews

"Shriver's eighth novel is a piercingly funny follow-up to her tragedy-laden 2005 Orange Prize winner....One of the issues that Shriver's expansive yet intimate narrative entertains is whether Irina's love life has been reduced or multiplied by her conflicted affections. It's the good question that powers this titanically game novel." Elle

"Original and involving...convincing and beautifully told. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"That we're able to overlook the flaws of Ramsey and Lawrence is, in the end, a testament to Ms. Shriver's ability to make Irina into a thoroughly compelling character, an idiosyncratic yet recognizable heroine about whom it's impossible not to care." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"While I was occasionally frustrated with Irina or I felt I was learning more about snooker than I wanted to know, there were other moments when I found myself riveted by The Post-Birthday World." Chris Bohjalian, The Boston Globe

"Shriver's eighth novel will attract patient readers ready for the next step after chick lit....This novel is ostensibly formulaic, but the details and the solid writing make it ultimately enjoyable." Booklist

"Shriver succeeds at constantly taking the pulse of the aftermath of betrayal and duplicity. The Post-Birthday World is a steamy examination of the possibilities of what might happen if you give into temptation or what might happen if you don't." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Shriver, a brilliant and versatile writer, allows these competing stories to unfold organically, each a fully rounded drama, rich with irony, ambiguity, and unforeseeable human complications. (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekly

The long-awaited new novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin is an entertaining and deeply human look at love and the choices people make.

Lionel Shriver is the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, the winner of the 2005 Orange Prize. Her other books include Game Control, A Perfectly Good Family, and Double Fault. She lives in London.