Synopses & Reviews
David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his
New York Times bestseller one day to a compellingly human, deftly humorous new novel about what holds marriages and families together—and what happens when everything threatens to fall apart.
Douglas Petersen may be mild mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen-year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells Douglas that she thinks she wants a divorce.
The timing couldnt be worse. Hoping to encourage her sons artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the worlds greatest works of art as a family, and she cant bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best, anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and may even help him to bond with Albie.
Narrated from Douglass endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves and learning how to get closer to a son whos always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nichollss gifted hands, Douglass odyssey brings Europe—from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafés of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona—to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around?
Review
“I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After.” Jojo Moyes, author of < em=""> Me Before You < m=""> and < em=""> One Plus One < m="">
Review
“Wonderful. A novel that manages to be both truly hilarious and deeply affecting. I loved it.” S.J. Watson, < em=""> New York Times < m=""> bestselling author of < em=""> Before I Go to Sleep < m="">
Review
“Nicholls brings his trademark wit and wisdom to this by turns hilarious and heartbreaking examination of a long-term marriage…. This tender novel will further cement Nicholls reputation as a master of romantic comedy.” < em=""> Booklist < m=""> (starred review)
Review
“From the author of One Daywhich was infinitely better than the moviecomes a pathos-laden love story about marriage on the brink of collapse.” < em=""> Entertainment Weekly < m=""> , & #8220;A Dozen Books We're Dying to Read This Fall. & #8221;
Review
“Nicholls is a master of the braided narrative, weaving the past and present to create an intricate whole…. A funny and moving novel.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
“For those who loved One Day, the authors latest is another heart-grabber about discovering what makes us happy and learning to let go.” Library Journal (starred review)
Review
“The bestselling author of One Day…is back with another crowd-pleaser, this time about a man trying to save his collapsing marriage and connect with his teenage son during a family tour of Europe.” < em=""> People < m=""> , Best Books of the Fall (2014)
Review
“Liked One Day? Then youll find this absolutely fabulous.… Very funny and very moving, often at the same time.” < em=""> Daily Mail < m=""> (London)
Review
“The Petersen family travels through Europe with more emotional baggage than luggage in Nichollss winning follow-up to his 2009 bestseller One Day….Few authors do messed-up relationships better than Nicholls.” < em=""> People < m=""> , Book of the Week
Review
“In his latest…Mr. Nicholls again deals with love lost and possibly found, offering an unpredictable (and less grim) ending…. Mr. Nicholls mines the setup for laughs, as he should, but he also provides a poignant story of regret in middle age.” < em=""> New York Times < m="">
Review
“A great novel...Nicholls is a master of nuanced relationships. Hes also a pro at delivering a tight, clever structural narrative, as he proved in his terrific previous novel One Day.” < em=""> Entertainment Weekly < m="">
Review
“Nicholls is a delightfully funny writer…and this over-planned vacation makes ripe material for comedy…Us evolves into a poignant consideration of how a marriage ages, how parents mess up and what survives despite all those challenges.” < em=""> Washington Post < m="">
Review
“David Nichollss latest… is a smartly optimistic romantic comedy that uses angst and humor to illuminate the resilience of the human heart…. Part requiem, part reboot, Douglass endearingly inept efforts to preserve his disintegrating family take him on another kind of journey, too, from despair to unexpected joy.” Oprah.com
Review
“A thoughtful, funny, authentic story…Pitch-perfect dialogue and seamless action propel the story forward in a way that feels cinematic.…This is the kind of book that reminds us what it means to be alive. How often does a reader get to feel that?” < em=""> Good Housekeeping < m="">
Review
“But for all of their burdens and battles, Douglas and Connie have moments of real joy in their marriage and while it doesnt always seem like a pleasure, reading about it sure is.” < em=""> Time < m=""> magazine
Review
“Its a great combination of laughs and heart…Just what you need on these too-short days, no?” Sophie Kinsella, < em=""> Redbook < m="">
Review
“What happens when domestic bliss becomes rote? Is the past strong enough to bind us together when it happens? Nicholls answer is complicated, poignant, wiseand disarmingly human.” < em=""> Miami Herald < m="">
Review
“Nicholls is a deft craftsman, a skilled storyteller and a keen observer of contemporary mores.” Jay McInerney, < em=""> New York Times Book Review < m="">
Review
“Us is a quick read but a charming one; a portrait of two journeysone measured in kilometers, the other in the heart.” < em=""> Seattle Times < m="">
Review
“Complex family drama...perfect read for the holidays!” < em=""> Huffington Post < m=""> , Top 10 Books to Read This Winter
Review
One of the
Observer’s New Faces of Fiction 2015
One of S Magazine’s Top Picks of 2015
One of Big Issue North's Authors to Watch in 2015
"Truly enthralling--the spirit of The Versions of Us has lingered with me. The way Laura Barnett manages to weave together such detailed and compelling threads is extraordinary, and she finds such poignancy in the everyday. I felt drawn in by the stories of Jim and Eva, and the novel really got me thinking about all the lucky chances we get to start over, and how we live in a state of constant flux. I simply adored this wonderful novel." — Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
"Where to begin? With the fluid and effortless prose? The poise and control of the author? The tenderness--but never sentimentality--which permeates the characterization? The cleverness of the plot device? The Versions of Us is both brilliant and astonishingly good." — Elizabeth Buchan, best-selling author of Consider the Lily
“I absolutely loved [The Versions of Us]. It's so elegantly and beautifully written . . . I was equally enthralled by each of the three versions . . . A really wonderful book.” — Esther Freud, author of Lucky Break and Mr. Mac and Me
“A triumphant debut . . . A thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of change and destiny in our lives. In addition to its original structure, the novel offers candid insights into the effects of status on love . . . Barnett’s willingness to look beyond romance to the mechanics of relationships bodes well for her career as a novelist.” — Sunday Telegraph (UK)
“Its very scope is a joy, the technical achievement seamlessly done, and the ending—all the endings—suitably affecting.” — Guardian (UK)
“Barnett renders an irresistible concept in sweet, cool prose--a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure book in which you don't have to choose.” — Observer (UK)
“Like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, The Versions of Us, a fine debut by Laura Barnett, offers multiple ‘what ifs?’ . . . Involving and poignant.” — Sunday Times (UK)
“Maeve Binchy’s death left a gap in the market for stories simply told with no literary affectation. Barnett’s promising first novel reads like early Binchy . . . The tantalizing ‘what if?’ theme keeps all three stories going at a cracking pace. It is to her great credit that youthful Barnett invokes the power of love and loss among both the young and old with equal tenderness.” — Daily Mail (UK)
“One Day meets Sliding Doors.”—Elle (UK)
“Everyone’s talking about The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett . . . Barnett interweaves the resulting love stories with their beautifully drawn characters into an elegant, touching tapestry.” — Woman and Home (UK)
“An affecting and thought-provoking work, The Versions of Us will keep you gripped until the tear-jerking conclusion.”— Daily Express (UK)
“We reckon that you'll see a few other people by the pool with their heads in this book, as it's a classic summer read. One Day meets Mad Men in this tale of the different ways a couple's relationship could have played out from the late 1950s to the present.”—Metro (UK)
“An amazing piece of British literature--this book should definitely be on your reading list this summer if you enjoy contemporary romance and books that really make you think.” — Buzzfeed (UK)
“One to watch: One Day meets Sliding Doors in The Versions of Us. Each strand is distinct--and equally captivating.” — Good Housekeeping (UK)
"A fascinating debut novel that could well be this year's One Day." — Bella (UK)
"A clever, romantic debut by Laura Barnett that follows a multistrand narrative around Jim and Eva, who meet at age nineteen in Cambridge. Barnett tells three outcomes of the same affair, a simple, effective metaphor for the paths love itself can take you on, before winding up smartly in the present." — Grazia (UK)
“All the highs and lows of love are portrayed in this thought-provoking and moving read.” — Prima (UK)
"The Versions of Us explores [fate] in a unique and complex way . . . Barnett choreographs the plot line deftly, guiding us through the divergent threads with impressive confidence . . . [She] suspends our belief like a conjuror." — S Magazine (UK)
“The girl-meets-boy premise, but played out in three 'what if?' trajectories over sixty years. Eva's and Jim’s paths cross at Cambridge University in 1958 when his bike wobbles to avoid hitting a dog. We follow as their lives spin out in three different ways, and so, inevitably, Sliding Doors comparisons kick in. But this is its own book: deep, sensitive, and without a hint of commercial compromise. 'With the tripartite structure I had space to be reflective, quiet and emotional--all the things my favourite writers do,’ says Laura. Just lovely.” — Sainsbury’s Magazine (UK)
“Big and ambitious—spanning decades, cities, and countries—The Versions of Us is also an intricate, intimate book . . . a story of romantic love, but also a story of family . . . All three versions of Eva's and Jim’s lives could work as stand-alone stories, but together they work magnificently.” — Bookseller (UK)
"It’s annoying when a book won’t let you give it up. You put it to one side and think, 'Maybe I will read that later,' because you have more important things to do. And there it is the next day, in your hands, wide open, pulling you back in, just not letting you go . . . As a first novel this is quite an accomplishment." — New Books Magazine (UK)
“It's hard to believe this is Laura Barnett's debut novel. It's so sophisticated and well put together--I'm completely in awe of how Barnett managed to write not just one story, but three, and make them all work perfectly together.” — Girl! Reporter
Review
“A smartly optimistic romantic comedy that uses angst and humor to illuminate the resilience of the human heart.” Oprah.com, & #8220;Paperbacks that Dazzle & #8221;
Synopsis
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his enormously popular New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny new novel about what holds marriages and families together and what happens, and what we learn about ourselves, when everything threatens to fall apart.
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.
The timing couldn t be worse. Hoping to encourage her son s artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world s greatest works of art as a family, and she can t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.
Narrated from Douglas s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who s always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls s gifted hands, Douglas s odyssey brings Europe from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafes of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around?
"
Synopsis
Now a PBS Masterpiece television miniseries starring Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his enormously popular New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny new novel about what holds marriages and families together--and what happens, and what we learn about ourselves, when everything threatens to fall apart.
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.
The timing couldn't be worse. Hoping to encourage her son's artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world's greatest works of art as a family, and she can't bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.
Narrated from Douglas's endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who's always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls's gifted hands, Douglas's odyssey brings Europe--from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the caf s of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona--to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around?
Synopsis
For readers who loved The Time Traveler's Wife and One Day, a much-anticipated debut novel that imagines three possible versions of one epic love story
Synopsis
In one moment, two lives will be changed forever . . . and forever . . . and forever.
Video
About the Author
David Nicholls's most recent novel, the New York Times bestseller One Day, has sold more than two million copies and has been translated into thirty-seven languages; the film adaptation starred Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway. Nicholls's previous novels include Starter for Ten and The Understudy. He trained as an actor before making the switch to writing and has twice been nominated for BAFTA awards.