'I was looking forward to us growing old together. Me and you, growing old and dying together.'
'Douglas, who in their right mind would look forward to that?'
Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home.
He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together.
So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again.
The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed.
What could possibly go wrong?
'Douglas, who in their right mind would look forward to that?'
Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home.
He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together.
So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again.
The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed.
What could possibly go wrong?
There is a reason why The Happily Ever After books are always so popular among people. It is their escape from their own lives in hopes that something out there will always feel like a fairytale. But what happens after the ending, after the in-love couple have kids, live day to day life and faced with the reality? David Nicholls introduces us to this reality, to a different story that's not all butterflies and unicorns but the truth about couples when they are burnt out and want out.
Unfortunately I haven't read One Day in which the story really began but I still enjoyed reading Us. The narrator walks us through his relationship and by remembering happy moments of his marriage and the way they met, we get more of a background. I really liked this story. You have Douglas, a scientist who cannot understand his son but wants to click with him. And then there is his wife. I really can't believe she just dropped "I want a divorce" on him like that but it is the hard truth of real relationships. Sometimes things just happen.
This was an eye opener for me because of the way it looked deeper into the family life. I am not married but really hope to have a family and children someday so being able to get something from this book was amazing. I found myself really invested in the story and Douglas' and his family's lives.
About David Nicholls
David Nicholls’s most recent novel, the New York Times bestseller One Day, has sold over 2 million copies and been translated into thirty-seven languages; he also wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film adaptation starring Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway. Trained as an actor before making the switch to writing, Nicholls’s previous novels include Starter for Ten (originally published in the U.S. as A Question of Attraction), adapted into a film starring James McAvoy, for which Nicholls also wrote the screenplay; and The Understudy. He continues to write for film and TV as well as writing novels and adapting them for the screen, and has twice been nominated for the BAFTA awards. He lives in London with his wife and two children.Find out more about David at his website and connect with him on Facebook.
