Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us

Widely touted as “Sliding Doors meets One Day”, ‘The Versions of Us’ by Laura Barnett tells the story of Eva Edelstein and Jim Taylor who meet as undergraduates at Cambridge University in the late 1950s. Eva is injured in a cycling accident after swerving to avoid a dog and from this point onwards, there are three versions of their story. In one version, Eva and Jim begin dating. In a different version, Eva ignores Jim and marries her current boyfriend, David. In another version, Eva discovers she is pregnant and divorces Jim to marry David.

The structure and premise of 'The Versions of Us' are a sort of hybrid of Lionel Shriver's 'The Post-Birthday World,' which explores two versions of Irina's life, and David Nicholls' 'One Day,' which follows Emma and Dexter on July 15th every year for twenty years. The subtle coincidences and mirroring between the characters and events in the three strands are also reminiscent of Kate Atkinson's 'Life after Life,' and the structure is very sophisticated and expertly knitted together.

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Although it took some time for the three versions to become sufficiently distinct in their own right, they are all remarkably consistent in quality, and I didn't prefer one over the others. There is no suggestion that one path is the "correct" one. Eva and Jim's fortunes fluctuate at different points in their lives, just like in real life, and they are both realistically loveable characters who make good and bad decisions. Although the book's unusual and complex structure is likely to draw a lot of attention, Eva and Jim's stories have a real emotional heart to them. Importantly, I found myself rooting for Eva and Jim as individuals rather than just as a couple throughout all versions of their story, whether they were together, alone, or with other partners. This, I believe, distinguishes 'The Versions of Us' from a lot of chick lit, which implies that there can only be one type of happy ending.

'The Versions of Us' is a remarkable debut novel that will definitely be a popular holiday read this summer. Barnett is definitely an author I'll be keeping an eye on.











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