Cass Wheeler, chanteuse et auteur-compositeur, a connu un immense succès au début des années 1970 grâce à ses ballades à la guitare, avant de disparaître mystérieusement de la scène artistique. Des années plus tard, Cass décide de retourner dans le studio de musique accolé à sa maison. En une journée, à la fois terriblement ordinaire et complètement extraordinaire, elle va choisir seize chansons parmi les centaines écrites au cours de sa carrière, et créer un album de ses plus beaux titres. Chacune des mélodies est liée à une époque, et va plonger Cass dans ses souvenirs, l'amenant à retracer, au fil des décennies, les joies et les épreuves qui ont jalonné son existence.Peu à peu se dessine le portrait bouleversant d'une femme libre, tout à la fois fille, mère, amante et artiste.Une histoire formidable émouvante, tendre et chargée d'espoir. Sunday Mirror.Traduit de l'anglais par Alice Delarbre.
''Warm and uplifting storytelling: a delightful treat'' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures ''An ode to the strange and wonderful time that is Christmas'' Stylist ''A gorgeous festive tale... Beautifully written and highly emotionally intelligent'' Daily Mail ''I loved The Versions Of Us by Laura Barnett and her new novel is just as wonderful... The ideal warm, bittersweet read to get you in the festive spirit'' Good Housekeeping ''Full of warmth, poignancy and a huge dose of Christmas spirit'' Red Twelve people Twelve gifts One Christmas to remember Maddy runs the bookshop on Market Square. She''s struggling to choose a gift (a watch? a wine subscription? a weekend bag? all too much?) for her old school friend Peter , who''s just moved back from London following a messy divorce. Peter doesn''t have a clue what to get for his teenage daughter Chloe - furious with her mother, she''s decided to up sticks and move to Kent with him, but he worries that he really doesn''t know her at all. Chloe wants to buy something special for her grandmother Irene , who lives alone on the other side of town. Irene doesn''t get out much these days, but she''d really like to find the right gift for Alina , who''s so much more than a carer, really - always stops to chat for a bit, have a cup of tea, even if it makes her late. And Alina , meanwhile, has her eye on something for... From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us comes a novel about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort. ''He felt it: the lightness, the expansiveness, the anticipation, the sense that something good was coming. And it was, wasn''t it - though the world was still licking its collective wounds and there was still suffering everywhere, suffering and loneliness and sadness. Despite all this, it was good: it was kindness, it was giving without thought of recompense, it was light in the darkness''
En 1958, Eva a dix-neuf ans, elle est étudiante à l'université de Cambridge et amoureuse de David. Un jour, alors qu'elle se rend à un cours, son vélo roule sur un clou. Un homme, Jim, assiste à la scène. Que va-t-il se passer ? Ce moment sera déterminant pour leur avenir commun.
Un point de départ, trois versions possibles de leur histoire : le roman suit les différents chemins que les vies de Jim et d'Eva pourraient prendre après cette première rencontre.
Des vies faites de passion, de trahisons, d'ambition et sous-tendues par un lien puissant. Car, quoi qu'il arrive, Eva et Jim vivront une histoire d'amour.
Livre poignant et fine analyse de la complexité du sentiment amoureux, cette comédie romantique moderne a été numéro un des ventes en Angleterre.
Une histoire profondément touchante et émouvante. Stylist.
Extraordinairement construit et constamment surprenant. The Times. Finaliste du prix Relay des Voyageurs Lecteurs 2016.
A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK AND NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER What if you had said yes . . . ? Eva and Jim are nineteen, and students at Cambridge, when their paths first cross in 1958. Jim is walking along a lane when a woman approaching him on a bicycle swerves to avoid a dog. What happens next will determine the rest of their lives. We follow three different versions of their future - together, and apart - as their love story takes on different incarnations and twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day. The Versions of Us is an outstanding debut novel about the choices we make and the different paths that our lives might follow. What if one small decision could change the rest of your life? Laura's Barnett's new book GREATEST HITS is available for pre-order now.
One day. Sixteen songs. The soundtrack of a lifetime... Alone in her studio, Cass Wheeler is taking a journey back into her past. After a silence of ten years, the singer-songwriter is picking the sixteen tracks that have defined her - sixteen key moments in her life - for a uniquely personal Greatest Hits album. In the course of this one day, both ordinary and extraordinary, the story of Cass's life emerges - a story of highs and lows, of music, friendship and ambition, of great love and great loss. But what prompted her to retreat all those years ago, and is there a way for her to make peace with her past? Daughter. Mother. Singer. Lover. What are the memories that mean the most? In this bittersweet and poignant follow-up to the Number One bestselling The Versions of Us , Laura Barnett cements her position as one of the most talented storytellers of her generation.
