The Post-Birthday World

"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.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 02/26/2008
ISBN: 9780061187896
Pages: 544
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.72w x 0.95d

Review Citations: Entertainment Weekly 02/19/2008 pg. 100
People Weekly 03/03/2008 pg. 45
New Yorker (The) 07/22/2013 pg. 76