The Post-Birthday World

Can the course of life hinge on a single kiss? Whether American expatriate Irina McGovern does or doesn't lean into a certain pair of lips in London will determine if she stays with her smart, disciplined, intellectual American partner, Lawrence, or runs off with Ramsey--a wild, exuberant British snooker star she and her husband have known for years.
In The Post-Birthday World, international bestselling author Lionel Shriver uses a parallel-universe structure to examine the implications--large and small--of whom we choose to love. As Irina's two departing futures unfold, Shriver pits one flawed-but decent man against another with all the subtlety, perceptiveness and drama that made her last novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, the winner of the 2005 Orange Prize.