The Post-Birthday World

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From the Orange Prize winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, this is the novel Lionel Shriver wrote directly afterwards. The Post-Birthday World is an unflinching account of the choices that unfold before us and what our decisions really mean.
Irina McGoverns destiny hinges on a single kiss. Whether she gives into its temptation will determine whether she stays with her reliable partner Lawrence, or runs off with Ramsey, a hard-living snooker player.

Employing a parallel universe structure, Shriver spins Irinas competing futures with two drastically different men. An intellectual and fellow American, Lawrence is clever and supportive, but rigid and emotionally withdrawn. A British celebrity, Ramsey is passionate and spontaneous, but jealous, undereducated, and prone to pick arguments. Their contrasting characters will colour her other relationships, her career, and the texture of her daily life.

If love is always about trade-offsif every romantic prospect is flawedhow can we ever know whom to choose

Reviews

Praise for The Post-Birthday World:

Those of us who rave about the dash and dare of Lionel Shrivers fiction can rejoice that The Post-Birthday World, a Sliding Doors-style joint tale of alternative loves and lives, will garner the attention she always deserves
Independent

A compelling survey of the competing merits of security vs.desire.
Guardian

Shriver gives us another passionate novelLike Sliding Doors, the tale splits into two, following the dramatic turns of each choice. Brilliant
Cosmopolitan

It's another domestic drama with a compelling twistthe power struggle between the sexes is spot-on. Shriver chalks her narrative cue with relish and, once the story gets underway, it's hard to take your eyes off the green baize
Tatler

The Post-Birthday World is about the dilemmas of love a must if you were gripped by We Need To Talk About Kevin
Harpers Bazaar

perceptive and highly original
Closer

Author Bio

Lionel Shriver's novels include the National Book Award finalist So Much for That, the New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday World, and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin. Her journalism has appeared in the Guardian and the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and many other publications. She lives in London and Brooklyn, New York.