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Longlisted for the Man Booker PrizeDavid Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his enormously popular New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny new novel about what holds marriages and families together - and what happens, and what we learn about ourselves, when everything threatens to fall apart.Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.The timing couldn't be worse. Hoping to encourage her son's artistic interests, Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world's greatest works of art as a family, and she can't bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead with the original plan is for the best anyway Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie.Narrated from Douglas's endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who's always felt like a stranger. Us is a moving meditation on the demands of marriage and parenthood, the regrets of abandoning youth for middle age, and the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. And in David Nicholls's gifted hands, Douglas's odyssey brings Europe - from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafs of Venice to the beaches of Barcelona - to vivid life just as he experiences a powerful awakening of his own. Will this summer be his last as a husband, or the moment when he turns his marriage, and maybe even his whole life, around



About the Author

David Nicholls

David Alan Nicholls (born 30 November 1966) is an English novelist and screenwriter. Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril sixth-form college at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1983 to 1985 (taking A-levels in Drama and Theatre Studies along with English, Physics and Biology) , and playing a wide range of roles in college drama productions. Colin Firth was at the same College and they later collaborated in And When Did You Last See Your Father? . He went to Bristol University in the 1980s (graduating with a BA in Drama and English in 1988) before training as an actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.Throughout his 20s, he worked as a professional actor using the stage name David Holdaway. He played small roles at various theatres, including the West Yorkshire Playhouse and, for a three-year period, at the Royal National Theatre. He struggled as an actor and has said "I'd committed myself to a profession for which I lacked not just talent and charisma, but the most basic of skills. Moving, standing still - things like that." Since then, David has turned to writing full-time, and is the author of four novels. 'One Day' was an international bestseller and the follow-up, 'Us', was long listed for the Man Booker Prize. He's also a screenwriter and TV dramatist; his credits include adaptations of 'Far From The Madding Crowd', 'Great Expectations', 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' and feature film version of his own novels. 'One Day' and 'Starter for Ten'.



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