''Us'' is a 2014 novel by English author David Nicholls for whom it won the Specsavers "UK Author of the Year" award. It was also long-listed for the

2014 Man Booker Prize The 2014 Man Booker Prize for fiction was awarded at a ceremony on 14 October 2014. Until 2014, only novels written in English and from authors in the Commonwealth, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe were eligible for considerat ...

. The BBC screened a four-part TV adapation of the novel, by Nicholls, in 2020, starring

Tom Hollander Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soci ...

Saskia Reeves Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the films '' Close My Eyes'' (1991) and ''I.D.'' (1995), the 2000 miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' and the 2016 film '' Our Kind of Traitor''. Early lif ...

and

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

. In Canada, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

(CBC) broadcast it as a six-episode mini-series.

Plot introduction

The book begins when Connie, frustrated artist and Douglas Petersen's wife of nearly 25 years, tells him that now their son Albie is about to leave home for college, she wants to leave too. Douglas resolves that their last family holiday together, a '

grand tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

' of the cultural and artistic gems of Europe, will "be 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 narrative then alternates between the story of the disastrous trip, at the start of which Albie deserts his parents in Amsterdam, and that of Douglas's unlikely courtship and marriage to Connie, contrasting his disciplined scientific life as a biochemist with Connie's spontaneous artistic character.

Reception

*Tim Auld in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', praises the novel, concluding "''Us'' is a quiet joy, written with an undemonstrative simplicity that is hard to achieve. It’s also a novel that captures the zeitgeist and will speak to many middle-aged people who find that their marriage has run its course and realise they must start out on a new romantic journey. It won’t make waves like '' One Day'', but then, no writer should expect that kind of success more than once in a lifetime. *Matt Cain writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' refuses to be critical: "a reviewer is only ever respected if he demolishes someone's work and even if he loves it can often feel duty-bound to toss in at least one criticism. But I'm not going to do this as I think ''Us'' is a perfect book. And I don't care if that means I've failed as a reviewer, because I've already won as a reader." *

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', ''Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last of ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' had some reservations though: "Nicholls is a deft craftsman, a skilled storyteller and a keen observer of contemporary mores. It would be interesting to see him challenge himself to dig deeper under the surface of contemporary life. ''Us'' will probably be welcomed by his legions of fans, though it’s unlikely to surprise or challenge or unsettle them in any way — or to provoke them to look at each other with a wild surmise."Sunday Book Review
The New York Times, Jan 20 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-10.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Literary Review'' - Anthony Cummins on ''Us'' by David Nicholls
2014 British novels Hodder & Stoughton books British romance novels Novels about artists British novels adapted into television shows Novels by David Nicholls