Summer Reading choice: an intriguing debut

Summer Reading recommendation: the beautiful love child of David Nicholl’s One Day and Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life

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

a triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives.

Its very scope is a joy, the technical achievement seamlessly done, and the ending – all the endings – suitably affecting

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.

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.

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.

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.

An affecting and thought-provoking work, The Versions of Us will keep you gripped until the tear-jerking conclusion.

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.

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

Truly enthralling… I simply adored this wonderful novel

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.

both brilliant and astonishingly good

skilfully done

unique, complex and playful.. Barnett suspends our disbelief like a conjuror

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.

One Day meets Sliding Doors

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.

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.

a fascinating debut novel that could well be this year’s One Day.

All the highs and lows of love are portrayed in this thought-provoking and moving read.

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.

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.

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.

I recommend this book without reservation… This is a wonderful, exceptional book by Laura Barnett. I loved it.

glorious… a book that I think will do incredibly well come its release

Worth every tear rolling down my cheeks. It’s a 2015 must-read!

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.

In pieces having just finished Laura Barnett’s The Versions of Us. Brilliant.

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.

Clever but not showy, romantic but not schmaltzy, it’s clear that the buzz around this book is justified.

In Laura Barnett’s first novel, a good idea is cleverly executed . . . The Versions of Us is a confident debut.

A hugely engrossing and, ultimately, deeply moving book about connections, possibilities, regret and the complicated nature of love.

written with intelligence and warmth

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.

well-written and constantly surprising, in the way that real life is surprising.

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.

Like Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, Barnett’s fine debut offers multiple “what ifs”

an impressive debut

A clever, touching and unforgettable book