Douglas’s wife Connie has just told him that she thinks she’d like a divorce – but not until after their trip to Europe, with their son Albie. Douglas clings to that hint of doubt – she thinks she wants to leave, but she isn’t sure, she hasn’t made her mind up yet – and is determined to plan the best family vacation ever. So well will he plan this vacation that Connie will realize that she was overreacting and decide to stay. But once the trip actually commences, nothing goes the way Douglas planned, making him more and more desperate to win over his wife once more.
Us is a non-linear, angst-filled book, billed as both hilarious and affecting, and the over-planned journey to Europe is supposed to be full of comedic material. But approach with caution. Some people are Connies: they’re spontaneous, they know how to have fun, and life seems to come easily to them. Others are Douglases: they’re socially awkward, they like to know what’s coming, and they just want the Connies of the world to like them. If you’re a Connie, chances are that you’ll love this book. If you’re a Douglas – RUN. Us tries to be a funny, bittersweet, and reflective novel about Douglas’s family and flaws, but Nicholls’s idea of “funny” appears to be making Douglas miserable, and then having Connie and Albie laugh at him. The more strongly you identify with Douglas, the more depressing Us is. The best character in the novel is Kat, the rock accordionist Albie picks up in Paris. Even Douglas is upsetting because he reveals that his need for order produced an inability to embrace his son’s childhood. As Douglas admits his flaws as a parent, he attempts to improve himself and make amends, and his efforts are not entirely in vain. But this lightening of the mood at the end of the novel came too little, too late for this reader, who now needs a cookie.
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