Long-listed for the 2014 Man Booker Prize, Us traces a journey across Europe as well as the topography of a family parting ways for the first time. David Nicholls (One Day) offers a crisp character sketch of a man desperate to save his marriage but clueless as to how.
Now that their son, Alfie, is headed to university, Douglas looks forward to plenty of alone time with his wife, Connie, whom he loves deeply. Connie has other ideas, announcing her intent to leave him right before the family embarks on a grand tour of continental Europe. While she views the vacation as the family's last hurrah, Douglas imagines he can use it to win her back and find a way to connect with the son who's always treated him like a stranger.
In reality, though, matters progress as usual--Alfie is embarrassed by his father, Douglas feels like a third wheel--while Douglas looks back on more than 20 years of married life with increasing bewilderment at their impending end. As the narrator, Douglas shows that he is a man filled with passion but too logical and cautious to express it; his frustration over the inability of his loved ones to see what's in his heart is striking. Douglas is far from one-dimensional, as his wit and humor take him from unlikely to likable hero. Fans of The Rosie Project in the mood for something sadder and deeper should take special notice of this acerbic scientist's struggle to halt the march of change. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads