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Us: A Novel
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Published:
HarperCollins 2014
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Description

Now a PBS Masterpiece television miniseries starring Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves

“I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After.” — Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You 

David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny 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. It 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. 

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Format:
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Street Date:
10/28/2014
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780062365606
ASIN:
B00JJV4QZG
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APA Citation (style guide)

David Nicholls. (2014). Us: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

David Nicholls. 2014. Us: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

David Nicholls, Us: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2014.

MLA Citation (style guide)

David Nicholls. Us: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2014.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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        David Nicholls's most recent novel, the New York Times bestseller One Day, has sold more than two million copies and has been translated into thirty-seven languages; the film adaptation starred Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway. Nicholls's previous novels include Starter for Ten and The Understudy. He trained as an actor before making the switch to writing and has twice been nominated for BAFTA awards.

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Now a PBS Masterpiece television miniseries starring Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves

“I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After.” — Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You 

David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny 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. It 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. 

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: People, Book of the Week
      • content:

        "The Petersen family travels through Europe with more emotional baggage than luggage in Nicholls's winning follow-up to his 2009 bestseller One Day....Few authors do messed-up relationships better than Nicholls." — People, Book of the Week

        "Nicholls is a deft craftsman, a skilled storyteller and a keen observer of contemporary mores." — Jay McInerney, New York Times Book Review

        "In his latest...Mr. Nicholls again deals with love lost and possibly found, offering an unpredictable (and less grim) ending.... Mr. Nicholls mines the setup for laughs, as he should, but he also provides a poignant story of regret in middle age." — New York Times

        "A great novel...Nicholls is a master of nuanced relationships. He's also a pro at delivering a tight, clever structural narrative, as he proved in his terrific previous novel One Day." — Entertainment Weekly

        "I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After." — Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and One Plus One

        "Wonderful. A novel that manages to be both truly hilarious and deeply affecting. I loved it." — S.J. Watson, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep

        "Nicholls is a delightfully funny writer...and this over-planned vacation makes ripe material for comedy...Us evolves into a poignant consideration of how a marriage ages, how parents mess up and what survives despite all those challenges." — Washington Post

        "A smartly optimistic romantic comedy that uses angst and humor to illuminate the resilience of the human heart... Part requiem, part reboot, Douglas's...efforts to preserve his disintegrating family take him on another kind of journey, too, from despair to unexpected joy." — O Magazine, November 2014

        "A thoughtful, funny, authentic story...Pitch-perfect dialogue and seamless action propel the story forward in a way that feels cinematic....This is the kind of book that reminds us what it means to be alive. How often does a reader get to feel that?" — Good Housekeeping

        "But for all of their burdens and battles, Douglas and Connie have moments of real joy in their marriage and while it doesn't always seem like a pleasure, reading about it sure is." — Time magazine

        "Us is a quick read but a charming one; a portrait of two journeys—one measured in kilometers, the other in the heart." — Seattle Times

        "What happens when domestic bliss becomes rote? Is the past strong enough to bind us together when it happens? Nicholls' answer is complicated, poignant, wise—and disarmingly human." — Miami Herald

        "It's a great combination of laughs and heart...Just what you need on these too-short days, no?" — Sophie Kinsella, Redbook

        "David Nicholls's latest... is a smartly optimistic romantic comedy that uses angst and humor to illuminate the resilience of the human heart.... Part requiem, part reboot, Douglas's endearingly inept efforts to preserve his disintegrating family take him on another kind of journey, too, from despair to unexpected joy." — Oprah.com

        "From the author of One Day—which was infinitely better than the movie—comes a pathos-laden love story about marriage on the brink of collapse." — Entertainment Weekly, "A Dozen Books We're Dying to Read This Fall."

        "The bestselling author of One Day...is back with...

      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from October 6, 2014
        In Nicholls's (One Day) latest novel, Connie Peterson wakes her husband Douglas in the middle of the night to tell him she may want to end their marriage. The family already has a European trip planned, the last before their son, Albie, leaves their London suburb for college, and Douglas, ever the scientist, hatches a plan to change Connie's mind: he will ensure their trip becomes an exemplar of the happy family they can be. Working against Douglas is the fact that he and his son have suffered a strained relationship from birth, and that Connie, an artist at heart, believes an organic vacation—one that evolves from the whims of any given day—would be a great improvement over Douglas's strict, pedantic itineraries. Douglas is an amiably bumbling narrator, and Nicholls convincingly infuses his protagonist's voice with the dry wit and charm that have served the author so well in his previous books. This is Nicholls's most ambitious work to date, and his realistically flawed characters are somehow endearing despite the many bruises they inflict upon each other.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        June 1, 2014

        Nicholls hit it big with One Day, which has sold over two million copies in 37 languages--and nearly 400,000 copies before the release of the 2011 film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. His new work features gently unassuming scientist Douglas Petersen, whose wife of nearly three decades announces that she wants a divorce--just as they're about to take son Albie on a big trip to Europe. A hopeful Douglas schemes to use the trip as a means of saving his marriage. BEA and book club promotion; a 500,000-copy first printing.

        Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        Starred review from October 1, 2014
        In his picaresque fourth novel, Nicholls (One Day, 2010, etc.) artfully unveils 25 years of a couple's relationship. Shortly before Douglas Petersen, his wife, Connie, and their 17-year-old son, Albie, are to take a "Grand Tour" of Europe, Connie makes a surprising announcement: She thinks their marriage "has run its course" and is thinking about leaving. Connie is panicked at the thought of Albie going to college at the end of summer, leaving her and Douglas alone in the house. Douglas, a straight-laced biochemist who "had skipped youth and leapt into middle age," came along at a time when Connie, artistic and free-spirited but directionless, needed someone sensible. Despite the announcement, Connie still wants to take this holiday together, and as their journey begins, so does Douglas' examination of his marriage. Part travelogue, part personal history, Douglas' first-person narration intersperses humorous observations of their travels, during which Douglas usually finds himself out of step with his art-loving wife and son, with his wistful recounting of their back story, from his unlikely courtship to his recent positioning as a misfit in his family of three. After a ruinous morning in Amsterdam, when Albie unwisely confronts a trio of arms dealers and Douglas intervenes in a way that infuriates his family, Albie runs away, and the "Grand Tour," deemed a failure, comes to an end. Yet before it's too late, Douglas seizes a chance to find his son, win back the affections of his wife, and make this journey, both literal and figurative, a heroic one after all. Nicholls is a master of the braided narrative, weaving the past and present to create an intricate whole, one that is at times deceptively light and unexpectedly devastating. Though the narration is self-conscious at first, it gradually settles into a voice that is wistful, wry, bewildered and incisive, drawing a portrait of a man who has been out of his league for a long time. Evocative of its European locales-London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Madrid-and awkward family vacations everywhere, this is a funny and moving novel perfect for a long journey.

        COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from September 15, 2014
        Nicholls brings his trademark wit and wisdom to this by turns hilarious and heartbreaking examination of a long-term marriage. Biochemist Douglas Petersen is about to embark on a grand tour of Europe with his artistic wife of 25 years, Connie, and his temperamental 17-year-old son, Albie, who is about to leave for college. But on the eve of their departure, his wife tells him that, after the trip, she wants a divorce. A shocked Douglas hatches a scheme to win back his wife and repair his fractious relationship with his son. Traveling from the museums of Paris and Amsterdam to the beaches of Spain, the Petersen family struggle to regain their equilibrium, but Douglas' determination to have fun, complete with an ironclad itinerary, leads to spectacular fights, hurt feelings, and simmering tensions, all of which are conveyed by Nicholls with both humor and a deep compassion for human frailty. As Douglas looks back in longing on the couple's first heady days of love and courtship, he struggles to maintain his touching optimism for the future of their marriage. This tender novel will further cement Nicholls' reputation as a master of romantic comedy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Nicholls' 2010 novel, One Day, has sold more than two million copies in 37 languages, and his latest will receive BEA and book-club promotion as well as a 500,000-copy first printing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        September 15, 2014

        Douglas Petersen is a biochemist. His wife, Connie, an artist (though nonpracticing) and arts administrator, in bed at 4 a.m., tells him that after 24 years of marriage she is thinking of leaving him. The often maddeningly practical, reliable, and methodical Douglas is, understandably, shaken, as his devotion to Connie is beyond question. The family was to embark on a Grand Tour of Europe this summer; their 17-year-old son, Albie, is starting college in the fall. Connie feels they should all go anyway. Douglas, ever the scientist, hopes that through careful preparation (and lots of Wikipedia) the trip will bring structure to his son and help remind his wife of the wonderful life they share. Yet an altercation with a guest in their Amsterdam hotel sends Albie off on his own, with Douglas in hot pursuit. VERDICT Nicholls (One Day) has created in Douglas a man who has always known where he was and where he was going and who now is suddenly adrift emotionally as well as physically. And all the guidebooks and online tours won't be enough to right his course. Are you thinking this is a predictable tale of family dynamics? Think again; this is Nicholls, after all. For those who loved One Day, the author's latest is another heart-grabber about discovering what makes us happy and learning to let go. [See Prepub Alert, 5/12/14; see also "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/14, p. 28.]--Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal

        Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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Now a PBS Masterpiece television miniseries starring Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves

“I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After.” — Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You 

David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his New York Times bestseller, One Day, to a compellingly human, deftly funny 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...

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