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The Versions of Us

On sale

28th May 2015

Price: £18.99

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Selected: Audiobook Downloadable / ISBN-13: 9781409160182

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What if you had said yes . . . ?

Eva and Jim are nineteen, and students at Cambridge, when their paths first cross in 1958. Jim is walking along a lane when a woman approaching him on a bicycle swerves to avoid a dog.

What happens next will determine the rest of their lives.

We follow three different versions of their future – together, and apart – as their love story takes on different incarnations and twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day.

The Versions of Us is an outstanding debut novel about the choices we make and the different paths that our lives might follow.

What if one small decision could change the rest of your life?

(p) 2015 Orion Publishing Group

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Reviews

NEWBOOKSMAG
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.
GIRL! REPORTER
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.
A CASE FOR BOOKS
glorious... a book that I think will do incredibly well come its release
Moira Please, THE PERFECT WRITING RETREAT
I recommend this book without reservation... This is a wonderful, exceptional book by Laura Barnett. I loved it.
strupag.com
Worth every tear rolling down my cheeks. It's a 2015 must-read!
thepagesbetween.com
Each version had its own moments that made me laugh and cry and I did find myself thinking about what my own different versions would be like.
@btwhizz
In pieces having just finished Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us. Brilliant.
Esther Freud
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.
Jessie Burton - author of The Miniaturist
Truly enthralling... I simply adored this wonderful novel
Elizabeth Buchan
both brilliant and astonishingly good
SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE
We follow (Eva and Jim) 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.. Just lovely.
ELLE
One Day meets Sliding Doors
GRAZIA
A clever, romantic debut.. 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.
BELLA
a fascinating debut novel that could well be this year's One Day.
Elena Seymenliyska, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
a triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives.
Elizabeth Fremantle, SUNDAY EXPRESS
unique, complex and playful.. Barnett suspends our disbelief like a conjuror
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
One to watch: we meet two characters, then time splits and follows three different versions of their lives. Each strand is distinct - and equally captivating.
Fanny Blake, WOMAN AND HOME
Everyone's talking about The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Eva and Jim's first meeting has three possible outcomes. Barnett interweaves the resulting love stories with their beautifully drawn characters into an elegant, touching tapestry.
DAILY MAIL
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 tantalising 'what if?' theme keeps all three stories going at a cracking pace.
Cathy Rentzenbrink, PRIMA
All the highs and lows of love are portrayed in this thought-provoking and moving read.
Jenny Colgan, THE GUARDIAN
Its very scope is a joy, the technical achievement seamlessly done, and the ending - all the endings - suitably affecting
Hepzibah Anderson, THE OBSERVER
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.
METRO
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.
BUZZFEED
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
MATURE TIMES
Comparisons have been made with David Nicholls' One Day and yes, it can be compared favourably with his masterpiece. This is a work of great mastery and deserves to be read and re-read for its own merits.
SUNDAY TIMES
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.
MAIL ON SUNDAY
skilfully done
DAILY EXPRESS
An affecting and thought-provoking work, The Versions of Us will keep you gripped until the tear-jerking conclusion.
Kate Saunders, THE TIMES
The Versions of Us is well written, deftly crafted and constantly surprising, in the way that chaotic real life is surprising; through the technical exercise might sound a tad mechanical, Laura Barnett uses it with verve to tell an utterly convincing love story about two people destined to be together somehow, no matter what.
DAILY MIRROR
Clever but not showy, romantic but not schmaltzy, it's clear that the buzz around this book is justified.
THE INDEPENDENT
In Laura Barnett's first novel, a good idea is cleverly executed . . . The Versions of Us is a confident debut.
SUNDAY TIMES
Summer Reading choice: an intriguing debut
THE TIMES
Summer Reading recommendation: the beautiful love child of David Nicholl's One Day and Kate Atkinson's Life After Life
THE OBSERVER
Summer Reading recommendation: I am 20 pages in and already hooked on Laura Barnett's counterfactual THE VERSIONS OF US, which is a kind of literary Sliding Doors
SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
A hugely engrossing and, ultimately, deeply moving book about connections, possibilities, regret and the complicated nature of love.
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
written with intelligence and warmth
PRIMA
The story of Eva and Jim twists and turns over many decades in this thought-provoking love story. Great read.
DAILY EXPRESS
Already a bestseller, this debut opens with a chance meeting between students Eva and Jim in 1958. As romance hangs in the air the novel splinters into three different directions with three outcomes, each following the couple over 60 years.
THE TIMES
well-written and constantly surprising, in the way that real life is surprising.
THE GUARDIAN
This bestselling alternative universe romance could be described as Sliding Doors, except with three stories instead of two, or Life After Life, without all the messy deaths.
SUNDAY TIMES
Like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, Barnett's fine debut offers multiple "what ifs"
SUNDAY EXPRESS
an impressive debut
HEAT
A clever, touching and unforgettable book