We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
The Versions of Us
A NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
‘The beautiful love child of David Nicholl’s One Day and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life‘
The Times
What if one small decision could change the rest of your life?
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.
As we follow three different versions of their future – together, and apart – their love story takes on different incarnations, as it twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day.
‘A triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives’
Sunday Telegraph
‘An utterly convincing love story about two people destined to be together somehow, no matter what’
The Times
‘Like Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, this fine debut offers multiple “what ifs”… Involving and poignant’
The Sunday Times
‘The tantalising “what if?” theme keeps all three stories going at a cracking pace’
Daily Mail
‘Truly enthralling… I simply adored this wonderful novel’
Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
‘The beautiful love child of David Nicholl’s One Day and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life‘
The Times
What if one small decision could change the rest of your life?
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.
As we follow three different versions of their future – together, and apart – their love story takes on different incarnations, as it twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day.
‘A triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives’
Sunday Telegraph
‘An utterly convincing love story about two people destined to be together somehow, no matter what’
The Times
‘Like Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, this fine debut offers multiple “what ifs”… Involving and poignant’
The Sunday Times
‘The tantalising “what if?” theme keeps all three stories going at a cracking pace’
Daily Mail
‘Truly enthralling… I simply adored this wonderful novel’
Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
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 hugely engrossing and, ultimately, deeply moving book about connections, possibilities, regret and the complicated nature of love.
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.
Its very scope is a joy, the technical achievement seamlessly done, and the ending - all the endings - suitably affecting
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.
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.
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.
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.
Like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, Barnett's fine debut offers multiple "what ifs"
All the highs and lows of love are portrayed in this thought-provoking and moving read.
The story of Eva and Jim twists and turns over many decades in this thought-provoking love story. Great read.
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.
One Day meets Sliding Doors
Worth every tear rolling down my cheeks. It's a 2015 must-read!
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.
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.
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.
Truly enthralling... I simply adored this wonderful novel
An affecting and thought-provoking work, The Versions of Us will keep you gripped until the tear-jerking conclusion.
A clever, touching and unforgettable book
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.
skilfully done
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
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
a fascinating debut novel that could well be this year's One Day.
glorious... a book that I think will do incredibly well come its release
Clever but not showy, romantic but not schmaltzy, it's clear that the buzz around this book is justified.
In pieces having just finished Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us. Brilliant.
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.
well-written and constantly surprising, in the way that real life is surprising.
unique, complex and playful.. Barnett suspends our disbelief like a conjuror
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.
Summer Reading choice: an intriguing debut
In Laura Barnett's first novel, a good idea is cleverly executed . . . The Versions of Us is a confident debut.
I recommend this book without reservation... This is a wonderful, exceptional book by Laura Barnett. I loved it.
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.
an impressive debut
written with intelligence and warmth
a triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives.
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.
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.
both brilliant and astonishingly good
Summer Reading recommendation: the beautiful love child of David Nicholl's One Day and Kate Atkinson's Life After Life