Synopses & Reviews
American children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a secure, settled life in London with her smart, loyal, disciplined partner, Lawrence — until the night she finds herself inexplicably drawn to kissing another man, a passionate, extravagant, top-ranked snooker player. Two competing alternate futures hinge on this single kiss, as Irina's decision — to surrender to temptation or to preserve her seemingly safe partnership with Lawrence—will have momentous consequences for her career, her friendships and familial relationships, and the texture of her daily life.
Review
"[T]he two versions are seamlessly knit, and in the end both are convincing and beautifully told. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"A layered and unflinching portrait of infidelity — with a narrative appropriately split in two.... Readers will wonder which choice was best for Irena, but Shriver masterfully confounds any attempt to arrive at a sure answer." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
This dazzling new novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin takes a psychological and deeply human look at love and volition
Does the course of life hinge on a single kiss? Whether the American expatriate Irena McGovern does or doesn't lean into a certain pair of lips in London will determine whether she stays with her smart, disciplined, intellectual American partner Lawrence, or runs off with Ramsey--a wild, exuberant British snooker star the couple has known for years. Employing a parallel-universe structure, Shriver follows Irena's life as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men. In a tour de force that, remarkably, has no villains, Shriver explores the implications, both large and small, of our choice of mate--a subject of timeless, universal fascination for both sexes.
--Vogue
Synopsis
"Complex and nervy, Shriver's clever meditation will intrigue anyone who has ever wondered how things might have turned out had they followed, or ignored, a life-changing impulse." -- People (Critic's Choice)
This dazzling novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin takes a psychological and deeply human look at love and volition
Does the course of life hinge on a single kiss? Whether the American expatriate Irena McGovern does or doesn't lean into a certain pair of lips in London will determine whether she stays with her smart, disciplined, intellectual American partner Lawrence, or runs off with Ramsey--a wild, exuberant British snooker star the couple has known for years. Employing a parallel-universe structure, Shriver follows Irena's life as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.
In a tour de force that, remarkably, has no villains, Shriver explores the implications, both large and small, of our choice of mate--a subject of timeless, universal fascination for both sexes.
About the Author
Lionel Shriver's novels include the New York Timesbestseller The Post-Birthday Worldand the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, which won the 2005 Orange Prize and has now sold over a million copies worldwide. Earlier books include Double Fault, A Perfectly Good Family, and Checker and the Derailleurs. Her novels have been translated into twenty-five languages. Her journalism has appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. She lives in London.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Lionel Shriver