Welcome back to the Reader's Den! This month's online book discussion will be The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver, the author of We Need To Talk About Kevin (winner of the 2005 Orange Prize for fiction, awarded to a work of contemporary fiction by a female writer).

This novel explores parallel universes. Similar in topic to the film Sliding Doors (1998), in which Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) misses a train and, in alternate universes, has strikingly different results in her love life, “The Post-Birthday World” is a literary take on this classic theme. After the initial chapter there are two second chapters, two third chapters, two forth chapters and so on. In one life path, Irina chooses to stay with her dependable but dull hubby, Lawrence Trainer; in the other, she runs off with a dashing, but needy in his own way, snooker player named Ramsey Acton. This novel is somewhat long (517 pages in my copy), but compelling and readable.

Reserve your copy of The Post-Birthday World today or visit your local branch.
Reserve your copy of the movie Sliding Doors from NYPL.

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