Us: A Novel

By David Nicholls

David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his international bestseller One Day to a compellingly human, deftly humorous new novel about what holds marriages and families together—and what happens when everything threatens to fall apart.

Douglas Petersen may be mild mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humour 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 Douglas 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 may 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 as well as the intricate relationship between the heart and the head. In David Nicholls’s gifted hands, Douglas’s odyssey brings Europe—from the streets of Amsterdam to the famed museums of Paris, from the cafes 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?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781443438094

David Nicholls

David Nicholls is the bestselling author of Starter for Ten; The Understudy; One Day; Us, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; Sweet Sorrow; and You Are Here. He is also a screenwriter who has also written adaptations of Far from the Madding Crowd, When Did You Last See Your Father? and Great Expectations, as well as his own novels, Starter for Ten, One Day, and Us. His adaptation of Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was nominated for an Emmy and won him a BAFTA for best writer. Nicholls is also the Executive Producer and a contributing screenwriter on a new Netflix adaptation of One Day.

Reviews for Us

[doingdewey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I haven’t fallen this in love with a work of fiction in a long time. The main character was particularly lovable. He’s sweet and smart, but shy and socially awkward. He’s also really funny and (bonus!) he’s a biochemist. I realize this might not appeal to every reader, but as a scientist myself, I enjoyed that a lot. The author had clearly done his research about biochemists. The main character describes what he does in a very believable way and spends a lot of time thinking about science in relation to his life.

Even more important than the details of the character was the way the author brought his emotions to life. The emotional scenes weren’t sappy. They weren’t big or demonstrative or flashy. The language wasn’t flowery or sentimental. Somehow, without any of that, the author just slowly, softly built up the main character’s everyday emotions until I ached for his heartaches and celebrated his happinesses. The ending was perfect for this beautiful, believable story. Although it was bit predictable, it wasn’t too neatly wrapped up but it did leave me with a hopeful feeling that made me happy. This book was blurbed by Jojo Moyes and I’d definitely recommend it to her fans, as well as anyone who just wants a book that will leave them smiling.

This review first published at Doing Dewey.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that seduces beautiful Connie into a second date - and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades later , they live more or less happily in the London 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. 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 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.

[johnwbeha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I empathised with the lead character in lots of ways and I loved the use of the Grand Tour with extensions to. Madrid and Barcelona as the setting for the current day story. I loved the interweaving of the past with the present and the discussions of parenting. Unlike another recent read I can see why this is a best seller. I have enjoyed all David Nicholl's books to date and expect to read a few more in the future.
I should add that I loved the use of the Philip Larkin poem to precede the final section - so right!

[oldblack-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliiant! Unequivocally a 5-star book for me. It took me three months to get through it but I only listened to it when I was walking at night listening to classical music on the radio and some long boring piece came on that I couldn't bear. And I had a couple of weeks of surgery and time in hospital in which I did no reading. So the long reading time was a joy rather than being a burden.I felt that Nicholls provided a very astute observation of a family in crisis - what led to the situation, how the different family members contributed to the problems or solutions, and how things end up. I listened to the audiobook version and I reckon the narrator, Justin Salinger, contributed a lot to my positive feelings about the book. He is perhaps the best book reader / narrator I have heard. Every character in the book behaved in a way and talked in a manner that really rang true with me - with one exception. In Chapter 112 the main character, Douglas, says "If I ever find a piece of music that is depressing beyond belief, I assume that it is Bach." How anyone can say that is just impossible for me to understand, and especially the Douglas character. I guess no book is perfect :-)

[charlottenlund-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Light fare...

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a family. Douglas, the father, is of that repressed and careful character that is a staple stereotype of English men. He loves his wife and son, he really does, but he shows it in reprimands and awkwardness. He's also a biochemist who is frustrated and confused by his seventeen year old son's love of photography and sloth. He doesn't mean to be unsupportive, but he does think that Albie should really look for a field of study that he is more likely to be successful in than photography. His wife, Connie, had seen him at the beginning of their relationship as reassuring, like the Shipping Forecast, but now seems to regard him more as just dull. She has suggested that they separate when their son leaves for university, but not earlier. Leaving them to face one last family vacation; a Grand Tour of Europe. David Nicholls, like Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding, writes entertaining books that aren't quite literary fiction, but also aren't easy to dismiss as trifling. Nicholls has an easy style of writing, which allows him room to explore difficult themes and ideas lightly. Here it's the end of a marriage, the inability of people who love each other to communicate, even when they truly want to. This should be dire, but it's enjoyably readable. There's also a great deal about art, from the point of view of someone who has a hard time seeing more than what is concretely on the canvas, who has the misfortune to travel with two people who have made visual arts their primary interest. There's a fair bit of slapstick comedy here, but it doesn't overshadow the heart at the centre of this story.

[indygo88 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Douglas is a middle-aged scientist living in England, married with a 17-year-old son. The novel begins with his wife, Connie, telling him that she thinks their relationship has run its course and that she doesn't think she wants to be married to him anymore. Douglas is basically blindsided by this, loves Connie very much, and is devastated. The family of three had planned a summer holiday in Europe prior to this revelation, and rather than canceling the trip, they decide to go anyway, as a last family outing before their son Albie goes off to college. Douglas sees this as an opportunity to change Connie's mind and is anxious to set out on the holiday.This novel moved slowly for me at first, and I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. The pacing is somewhat slow, but there is enough humor to keep it moving along. Douglas is a relatively serious character, offset by his more easygoing wife and teenage son. His relationship with his son Albie has always been somewhat strained, and this is brought to a climax at one point during the story. My feelings for Douglas as a character fluctuated throughout my reading. At times I felt sorry for him and at other times he frustrated me immensely. But even more so, I could relate to a lot of his personality traits. The story moves back and forth, beginning with the present-day European holiday trip, alternated with flashbacks recounting the story of Douglas & Connie's relationship as it developed and evolved throughout the years prior to and during their marriage. It's a bittersweet story, but one that is quite easy to relate to and reflect upon. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, with typical British humor interspersed throughout. I didn't love this book, but I enjoyed it because of its realistic examination of a marriage in today's world.

[wvlibrarydude · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good character study of a man's relationship with wife and son. Douglas the scientist, his wife the artist and their son that plans to go to college to be a photographer. Douglas loves his family but has connection issues. The story goes back and forth in time to paint the family picture.
Laced with humor, the story was good, but hit too close to home on some of his character flaws.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Douglas is a blissfully oblivious scientist who is taken by surprise to learn that his wife, Connie, is planning to leave him, right before their 17 year old son is planning to leave for college. Douglas and Albie have never had a very good relationship and he is generally unable to see things from Albie's perspective or see his lazy, drug-abusing lifestyle as something he and Connie should be encouraging. In a last ditch effort to repair his damaged relationship with Connie, Douglas plans a long European vacation for the three of them, hoping that the art and cultural experiences will somehow draw them all closer. This plan, not surprisingly, veers sharply off-course when Albie ditches his family to live a homeless lifestyle with a female street performer. Although Connie immediately ends the vacation to go home and wait for Albie to return, Douglas is determined to find Albie and repair their relationship, as the fate of his marriage depends on his success.This novel is fairly predictable but generally enjoyable. I liked reading about the family's travels through the European cities more than the conflict, which never seemed to resolve. I wanted to smack Douglas in the head on a number of occasions, as he just couldn't seem to stop himself from upsetting his wife and son through his critical statements. It was nice to see his growth over the course of the novel, as he became a little more flexible and less judgmental. Overall, I would think this would be a good vacation read.

[pier50 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining, funny, insightful, sad, moving and ultimately satisfying reed. David Nicholls is one of the best around when it comes to writing about relationships

[kremsa-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Us" is reflective look at a marriage after 25 years by the protagonist Douglas. The story alternates between the current Grand Tour holiday that he has embarked on with his wife and son in an effort to save the marriage and past memories that provide a history of how he and his wife met and the ensuing years. This was a wonderful book to listen to; the narrator did a wonderful job and added quite a bit to the character.

[eglinton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The 'two cultures' reset in the relationship of Douglas and Connie: he is neat, orderly, and square, she spontaneous and emotional. He is the hero or at least narrator, but his temperament proves the more testing, as he effectively loses both wife and son, without gaining too much from the self-awareness this brings. He and we do learn snatches of interest about our European art heritage from the rebooted Grand Tour he hauls us through. And we can all appreciate the kindly and good-humoured tone of the relationship that he seeks to revive, spanning those two cultures; "at least it's not burglars," he quips at the outset, when the abyss of a possible breakup first presents itself.

[spincerely · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This reminded me of The Rosie Project with not quite as much humor. At bit slow to start, but it grows on you. I turned the speed up to 1.25x and that worked much better as the narrator was reading quite slowly.

[vivl_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Now that's what I call a good read. I'm often at a loss when people ask my opinion on a good "holiday" book, probably because I'm a bit of a book snob/geek and can't imagine that the kind of stuff I usually enjoy would make for fun, light reading. This one succeeded in keeping my humour and intellect engaged while carrying me along effortlessly through a tale that not only makes sense from start to end but is insightful and often a riot along the way. Also, the ending is pretty much perfect. Another author to keep my eye on!

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book took me weeks to finish. I only read it because it was on the "Best of..." lists, but I just could not get interested in it. I forced myself to finish the last 200 pages tonight.

[gayla.bassham · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I cannot tell a lie -- I liked this book much more than I expected to, given my rabid hatred of One Day. Us isn't a great book, but it is gentle and charming and witty, the kind of book you can read on a Saturday after a long week of work. The stakes are fairly low, the book proceeds pretty much the way I expected it to, there's a little sting at the end but nothing too terrible. I liked the characters, but I never really worried about them; I had every confidence that no matter what happened they would be OK. This isn't one of my favorite books of the year -- I'm surprised to see it on the Booker list -- but this was a pleasant enough diversion for a few days.

[lara335 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Douglas, a slightly Pooterish sort of scientist, and his artistic wife and teenage son go on a European tour. Told from Douglas's point of view, interspersed with recollections of moments in his 25 year-old marriage. David Nicholls skilfully and sympathetically draws Douglas as a nice, well-meaning man who inadvertently exasperates his wife and son. A funny, humane and involving novel, which also had me googling the paintings being viewed on the 'grand tour'. I loved 'Starter for Ten' that had as it's main character a socially-awkward, teenage-Douglas type male. Was severely disappointed by 'One Day', so delighted to pick up on a similar character in middle-age - who is still causing a ruckus at a quiz.

[muddyboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book could be entitled "Warning to a Woman Considering Marrying a Fuddy Duddy". The book's protagonist truly loves his wife and son but he is so crazily set in his ways that he would send an average "normal" person screaming out the exit to get away from him. He is a scientist and his wife is an artist and she along with their son feel smothered by his notions of how things should and shouldn't be done. He really loves his wife and I feel the power of his love keeps the marriage going until the beginning of this book when she informs him she thinks it is time for them to split up. The crux of the novel is his desperate attempt to save his relationship with her and to establish some kind of connection with his wayward son. He is charming at first and maddening by the end.

[dubaireader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Grand Tour of Europe.This started out really well, with several quips that had me laughing out loud. However, the original impetus seemed to wane as I read further, and I lost interest somewhere in the middle of Europe.Douglas is a geeky scientist, living a reclusive life. He presumes that this is how his future will pan out, until he meets Connie at one of his sister's awful dinner parties. She is vivacious, arty and hip, and he can't believe his luck when she seems to reciprocate his interest. They marry and have a son, Albie.By the time the trip around Europe takes place, Albie is seventeen and a moody teenager; this is to be the last family holiday, an educational experience for Albie before he leaves for university to study photography.Needless to say, very little goes to plan and a large part of the book is Douglas's attempt to hold things together, as Albie does his own thing and Connie announces that she will be leaving Douglas once Albie goes to university.An interesting study of family relationships, but I got bored as the amusing quips seemed to reduce in number and I'd had enough of trailing around Europe.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Douglas, a bit of a nerd but so still in love with his wife, I immediately took to his character. Loved the dry wit in which this story is told and all the talk about art on their travels through Europe. But I had a big problem relating to the main premise of this novel. After being told his wife wants to leave him, she talks him into going on their planned trip with their son albie. I tried to picture myself or my husband going off on a major holiday after this type of discussion and just couldn't. We have been married many years, just as Douglas and Connie in the book, and both of us would be so devastated we probably would not be emotionally functional.Yet, the story is an engaging one, well written for sure. Never took to the character of Connie, thought her selfish though she maintains she still loved Douglas. A good look though at a marriage where one spouse wants something different than the other. So a good read if one can suspend belief, or maybe their are marriages and people out there who can put side their thoughts and emotions to go through something lime this. Just know I couldn't but the writing and some of the insights made this very readable and I did want to see what happens at the end of their trip. Douglas just seems too good to be real.

[ccayne_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable read. Amazing to me that they married at all.

[perednia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Us by David Nicholls chronicles, with extensive flashbacks, a family that may or may not be about to fall apart. After decades of marriage, the artistic wife of biochemist Douglas Peterson tells him one morning that she isn't sure she wants to be married any longer. He adores Connie and, in flashbacks from the evening they meet at his sister's flat and beyond, it's easy to see why. She loves life, she is interested in things, in experiences. Connie isn't so much a free spirit, except in contrast to the earnest, clueless soul that Dougie presents himself as, as she is vibrant.When Connie has announced her decision, they have already planned an old-fashioned Grand Tour of the continent, taking their son as the last family hurrah before he goes to university.It is, of course, no fun at all. The three are tetchy around each other, the madcap escapades get more out of hand.Doug, the novel's narrator, goes on and on about things but as Connie tells him, "Douglas, you have an incredible capacity for missing the point."He loves her perspective even while knowing it's not how he sees the world: "I didn't hate art, not by any means, but I did hate knowing nothing about it." This extends beyond paintings, of course, as in this exchange between the couple:"I've got nothing against dreams as long as they're attainable." "But if they're attainable then they're not dreams!" "And that's why it's a waste of time!"Unlike the above exchange, however, Connie doesn't always take the opposite stance from Doug. Sometimes she's one of the grown-ups in the room now too. There are moments when Connie has become more like Doug than he has become like her. Their son Albie is early on picked up by an older woman who is busking her way through Europe, playing the accordion to earn money when not scarfing down huge amounts of food at hotel buffets. Connie is as offended as Doug is when this woman, Cat, puts food in her pockets after coming down to breakfast with them. She backs up Doug when he tells Cat the Moocher to put back some of the little jars she's swiping.So, does this mean married couples grow more alike? Or people become more conservative and not as much fun as they grow older? Or does this mean nothing of the kind and rude is rude, after all? Us is the kind of novel that lets a reader wonder about these things even as the story proceeds.Douglas is not always easy to understand, even if he understands himself. In one flashback, he relates how his parents were even worse than Doug is about being no fun at all. And when he took Connie home to meet them, there was a political disagreement. Doug stood with Connie. But now, when this hapless, apologetic family man is in the middle of a restaurant row involving his smart remark-making son, the busker accordionist who has picked him up, his wife and some wealthy arms dealers with glossy brochures spread across the breakfast table, Doug does the worst thing possible. He apologizes for his son.As Connie tells him: "...in a fight you side with the people you love".Immediately afterward, Doug reminisces:I'm aware that it sounds perverse, but what I hoped for at that time was some accident, some near disater, so that I could be as heroic as the occasion demanded, and show the strength of my devotion.Yes that is perverse because real life demands as much heroism and devotion and steadfastness as we can give, and then some. We don't need near disasters. We need to pay attention to the here and now. Douglas, was Connie ever right.The turning point in the novel shows that Doug may have realized he has his opportunity to pull off some heroic deed. Or at least, what passes as one for someone like him who plans holidays by museum itineraries and is always at the airport a good two hours early. There is a chance that Douglas may redeem himself whether or not he and his son, and he and his wife, reconcile. He realizes:... perhaps grief is as much regret for what we have never had as sorrow for what we have lost.Indeed, Douglas, indeed. This character has just demonstrated that you never know when you are going to have a new realization about something you think you know very well indeed -- yourself.The second half of the novel chronicles Doug's mission, with its ups and downs. It also continues his ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory whenever he says something wrong, which he still does. And the novel continues with the ability of this middle-aged man who has been alienating himself from his wife and son to become involved in outrageously ridiculous scenarios as he treks through Europe.And yet, and yet, whenever the plot reaches a point that is OTT and a reader would not be faulted for giving up on it, go ahead and read another page. Keep going as the flashbacks shed light on how our narrator got himself into this pickle and how he remains someone who has not given up on himself, his wife, his son or on hope itself.That there also is an unexpected development just when things are at their lowest point and Doug not only turns a former antagonist into an ally, because of honesty, changed one of the tropes of the novel. Before, whenever another party became involved with the Petersens, the outside catalyst became something that broke the pattern of the triangle of the three characters. The outside character didn't add another layer, that character instead caused a fracture.This original structure and the changes made to it play a significant role in the way the plot plays itself out. In between the flashbacks and the current story, Nicholls also gives Doug the opportunity for a passionate speech about modern technology, capitalism and the resulting widening of the gap between the rich and the poor. Plus all the other things that have been going wrong in the world.Nicholls also has insightful commentary about how children become like their parents in some ways and how children strive to become their own people, whether it's Douglas and his son or Douglas and his father.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

They say that opposites attract, right? My husband and I are certainly opposites in many ways but our opposing ideas are generally superficial. He likes comic book movies and thrillers; I like rom-coms. He loves meeting strangers; I'd rather go to the dentist for a root canal. He likes tv; I love books. And on and on. In all the ways that really matter though, our view of the world, our desires for the future, our theories on how to raise our kids, we are very similar. Twenty-five years on, I suppose we could have grown alike rather than started that way but I suspect that the fundamentals were always there. And that is why it was so very curious and intriguing to read about Douglas and Connie, characters in David Nicholls' newest novel, Us, who started out fundamentally different and who have never really bridged that gap in all the years of their marriage. Douglas and Connie Petersen have been married for twenty-five years and have a seventeen year old son, Albie. They have planned a month long Grand Tour of Europe and its spectacular art, their last family vacation before Albie leaves for college. But even before they leave, Connie wakes Douglas in the middle of the night and tells him that she thinks their marriage has run its course and she might leave him when they come back from Europe. The news is a terrible blow to Douglas, whose world has been made brighter for so long by the arty and worldly Connie's presence in it. Since the vacation is still going ahead, Douglas intends to try and repair the damage with his wife, damage he has been ignorant of for the most part, to rescue his marriage and to try and connect with the spoiled, sullen Albie as well. But what vacation goes as planned? There are tender moments but there's also bickering and misunderstanding and wrong-footedness too. There's a spectacular lack of communication and unrealized expectations. Douglas narrates the novel looking back at the trip and even further back at his long history with Connie. He is as straight and milquetoast as you might expect a biochemist to be but has a wonderfully witty turn of phrase, even when he doesn't realize he's being funny. He is unflinchingly honest about his own acknowledgement of his mediocrity and the fact that he should never have ended up with a vibrant and unique Connie. He details and defends his conventionality as he realizes that it is this constrained, uber-planned manner that has him so often at odds with his free-spirited wife and son. And yet he cannot let go of the very safe conventions that are such a part of his fabric. As the three Petersens travel around Europe, he tries very hard, commenting on the famous art in ways that just make Connie and Albie shake their heads. But it has always been a bit of mother and son against dad in their family and this trip just highlights that all the more. None of it is entirely unexpected though. It's only when the whole thing goes tits up that Douglas starts to really think deeply about the future and his relationships with both Connie and Albie. Nicholls skillfully weaves both the trip and the previous twenty-five years together in Douglas' first person narration. And using Douglas to narrate makes the reader much more sympathetic to someone who might otherwise be the less appealing character. Douglas' confused honesty, his attempts to do or say the right thing and yet still missing the point entirely, his introspection about his fundamental differences with Connie and why staying with her is so important to him, and his sincere desire to be the hero of the family all combine to make him a pitiable and yet engaging character. As he narrates, the reader also gets a good sense of Connie and Albie's characters too, especially when Douglas looks back with regret for choices he made along the way. Nicholls is a fantastic writer and the fate of this mismatched family is one that really gets under the reader's skin. There are moments of predictability for anyone who has themselves been in a long relationship but they heighten the realism of the tale and then are often turned on their heads in the end anyway. The story is a poignant look at marriage and parenting, a beautiful rendering of growing up and out-growing the life you've created.

[lesleynicol · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Scientist Douglas Peterson, a conservative, nerdy, unimaginitive "fuddy duddy", meets Connie, an attractive, adventurous artist, and surprisingly they fall in love and marry.The story opens when they have been together for twenty years and have a 17 year old son, Albie, and are planning to take him on a "grand tour' of Europe, before his departure to University. All plans have been made when Connie tells Douglas she is tired of the marriage and wants to leave h)im. (Why it took her 20 years to decide this is beyond me, 20 days with him would have been too much for me)However as everything has been booked and paid for, they agree to still go on what will be "their last trip as a family" As no doubt every reader predicted, the trip is a disaster, especially for their teenage son. Albie (not a very likeable17 year old) treats his father with disdain and Douglas is completely incapable of trying to understand him and just wants him to conform.Douglas has pre-planned the trip right down to the very last detail and soon becomes over-run with his eager organisation. It all comes too much for Albie who "takes off" on his own after an argument with his father and without telling his parents where he is going. His father in an uncharacteristic departure from his normal behaviour sets out to find him and Connie goes home.The book is at times hilarious and at others quite heart wrenching as we follow these three 'misfits"Whether it has a satisfactory ending is for the reader to decide.This is not by any means one of the best books I have read, but I quite liked the writing style and found it quite a good read for the summer holidays.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really not sure about this. A mixture of brilliant observations, funny situations, heartbreaking and maddening moments, make this a very up and down, story jarring my emotions constantly. The narrator was a bit of a dullard, but, which made the novel more interesting.

[critterbug_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love how David Nicholls tells a story. His humor and his delivery are exceptional. His characters are relatable and I find I am vested in the story and don't want it to end.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure there is any better author than David Nicholls when it comes to portraying real life and all its imperfections and disappointments while still making us laugh. This was a tremendously entertaining read, centring on a family on the brink of breakup - teenage son off to college and mum wanting a separation from dad. A final 'holiday of a lifetime' touring European art galleries with these characters could have been a bore-a-thon in the hands of a lesser author, but this sparkled from start to finish. I particularly liked the portrayal of Douglas; as a socially awkward person myself I sympathised with him a lot. The chapter about the quiz night was wonderfully cringe-making: I could see that he was in the wrong in a way, and yet I would have behaved exactly as he did. And as for the chapter about the future, and how we are all going to hell in a handcart - it was so well written I wanted to read it again and again, yet it was chilling too, albeit finished off with a line that gives the reader a good chuckle. Great book.

[joyhclark · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I went into this one with low expectations, given my general dislike of One Day. Despite my reservations, I thoroughly enjoyed Us. Several of Douglas's inner diatribes - the general nastiness of public beaches, pessimism about the future - were eerily similar to my own thoughts. As a parent, I saw glimpses of myself in both Douglas in Connie and became both endeared/frustrated with all three characters at one time or another.

[casualfriday_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved, loved, loved, loved this book narrated by a man trying to hang on to his family after his wife unexpectedly tells him she wants a divorce, on the eve of the family's grand tour of Europe.Douglas Peterson is the nicest fictional guy I've met in years. But he is also, and this is a word I haven't used in perhaps 50 years, a square. From the very beginning of their courtship, his wife Connie has been more bohemian, adventurous, creative, and she just gets bored and exasperated by Doug's staid ways. In Europe, with their sullen son Albie, Douglas is the one who studies the guidebook, and Connie is the one who looks forward to the legal weed in Amsterdam.Most of my pleasure in the book came from my sympathy for the protagonist. Doug's voice is intelligent, often very funny, self-aware, fearlessly honest about his own failings, and more than generous about those of his wife. (I'll let readers form their own opinion of Connie and Albie.)A added pleasure was the European setting. It's the tourist-view of Europe, and since I'm a tourist I just loved the descriptions of the various sites I've seen.

[flydodofly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Delightful, alive, very funny, very true. I have enjoyed it from beginning to end.Quotes:- Perhaps this was why those museum audio-guides had become so popular; a reassuring voice in your ear, telling you what to think and fell. Look to your left, take note, please observe, how terrific it would be to carry that voice with you always, out of the museum and throughout your life.- Light travels differently in a room that contains another person;...- Alcohol loosened inhibitions, and inhibitions were worn tight here.- Perhaps they were a perfect match, like a pair of drumsticks.- There's a saying, cited in popular song, that if you love someone you must set them free. Well, that's just nonsense. If you love someone, you bind them to you with heavy metal chains.