The Post-Birthday World | Wellesley Books

Description

American children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a secure, settled life in London with her smart, loyal, disciplined partner, Lawrence—until the night she finds herself inexplicably drawn to kissing another man, a passionate, extravagant, top-ranked snooker player. Two competing alternate futures hinge on this single kiss, as Irina's decision—to surrender to temptation or to preserve her seemingly safe partnership with Lawrence—will have momentous consequences for her career, her friendships and familial relationships, and the texture of her daily life.

About the Author

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, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. She lives in London, England, and Brooklyn, New York.

Praise for The Post-Birthday World…

“Witty, formidably bright author…Lively parts…”
-Denver Rocky Mountain News

“Compelling...ingenious...inspired.”
-The Evening Standard (London)

“Shriver is very obviously a perceptive observer and clever chronicler of the human condition, in all its messy, unresolved glory.”
-The Nelson Mail (New Zealand)

“...enjoyable...”
-Sunday Times (London)

“Original and involving...convincing and beautifully told. Highly recommended.”
-Library Journal

“...hot...”
-Time magazine

“Shriver has a gift for creating real and complicated characters and putting them in less-than-simple situations…Highly engrossing novel…”
-San Francisco Chronicle

“Shriver writes with much intelligence and wryness....The twofold nature of the plot...makes for enlightening reading.”
-Irish Times

“Shriver is a terrific, intelligent writer.”
-Bookseller (London)

“Daring [and] dazzling.”
-More Magazine

“The Post-Birthday World is a...radical book.”
-The Scotsman

“Ingenious....there is an impressive freshness in her treatment. The writing is intelligent, the characterisation thoughtful, the insights into love, sex and snooker sharp. After her acclaimed 2003 novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Shriver confirms her reputation as an original talent.”
-Mail on Sunday

“[A] tour de force in literary structure and mastery of language...engrossing.”
-Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

“...unique...”
-South-East Advertiser (Australia)

“Provocative...stunningly intense.”
-New York Daily News

“Ingenious...delightful...[Shriver] has produced a novel that’s equal parts entertainment and psychological massage.”
-Philadelphia Inquirer

“Hugely entertaining…tackles the dueling human needs for passion and security with fierce, witty honesty.”
-Vogue

“Best novel of ‘07.”
-Entertainment Weekly

“...fascinating...”
-Christian Science Monitor

“Shriver writes with elegance and a loaded intensity...she is a brilliant, witty storyteller and the book is utterly compelling.”
-Weekend Australian

“This is a compulsive, clever, wise and witty novel.”
-The Times (London)

“Extraordinary...Before it was co-opted and trivialized by chick lit, romantic love was a subject that writers from Flaubert to Tolstoy deemed worthy of artistic and moral scrutiny. This is the tradition into which Shriver’s novel fits.”
-Entertainment Weekly

“Shriver’s an extraordinary writer. Her perceptiveness of male-female relationships is unsettling, dangerous, familiar and voyeuristic. [The Post-Birthday World is] impossible to put down.”
-Daily Telegraph (Australia

“Provocative….The Post-Birthday World is…as unflinching as they come.”
-New York Times

“...candid...”
-Entertainment Weekly