Review: Lionel Shriver's "The Post-Birthday World"

The first chapter of Lionel Shriver's "The Post-Birthday World" describes the kind of "perfect" domestic arrangement that most people dream of. Irina and her partner of ten years, Lawrence, are enjoying a pleasant ex-pat existence in London. Irina's modest success as a children's book illustrator dovetails nicely with Lawrence's rising career at a prestigious UK think tank; their circle of friends is small but rewarding; and their home life has settled into a seamless, comforting routine. One small detail, however, has begun to occupy Irina's thoughts with niggling persistence: although their sexual couplings are frequent and satisfactory, Irina and Lawrence no longer kiss. Indeed, Irina is lucky to catch a dry "air peck" from Lawrence as he heads out the door each morning.

Irina's book collaborator, Jude, is married to Ramsey Acton, a champion player of "snooker" -- a British version of billiards. Ramsey is a popular celebrity in the UK, and although most Americans are immune to the charms of snooker, Lawrence loves the game and prods Irina into striking up a couples friendship with Jude and Ramsey. Through a series of fateful twists and turns, Irina finds herself unintentionally alone with Ramsey on his birthday. The awkward situation leads to overdrinking, and Irina is shocked when her long dormant sexuality asserts itself with a force that simultaneously thrills and horrifies her. Every molecule of her body tells her to kiss Ramsey; every dictate of common sense tells her not to.

At this point, the narrative splits into two parallel stories. Chapter 2, marked with a black square, proceeds to tell what happens when Irina chooses to kiss Ramsey. It is followed by Chapter 2, marked with a white square, which proceeds to tell what happens when Irina chooses not to kiss Ramsey. The book proceeds with alternative chapters to the end.

If you think that Shriver's novel sounds like a banal chic lit romance that happens to employ an interesting plot device, think again. "Post Birthday World" explores the psychological and physical aspects of attraction with intelligence, insight, and unflinching candor. Lionel Shriver is known for pushing the bounds of raw honesty, and she steadfastly refuses to resort to trite convention or comforting bromides in this novel. She is anti-PC with a vengeance.

Once Irina makes her momentous decision (such a small act -- a kiss -- with such profound consequences), she is driven to filter her perceptions in a way that will support her fateful choice. When Lawrence returns home from a business trip the night after Irina kisses Ramsey, she perceives Lawrence's face to be killingly familiar -- utterly devoid of any remaining mystery or charm. His pet name for her suddenly strikes her as cheeky and presumptuous, and when he embraces her in bed, his heavy arm and warm chest suffocate her. When he prods her with his pelvis, it has the pesky quality of a poking finger. She has made her choice, and she shapes her experience to reinforce her judgment call. How could anyone stay with Lawrence, really?

Alternatively, when Lawrence returns home from a business trip the night after Irina refuses to kiss Ramsey (Version B), Irina beams with relief and love at the sight of her partner ("There was no doubting that Lawrence's was a beautiful face . . . the kind you could dive into like dark water and get lost"), longs to have him embrace her (she insists on a long, wet kiss), and basks in the pleasure of hearing his familiar pet name for her. She has made her choice, and is determined to perceive their relationship as an exceptionally successful one.

Shriver is well aware that part of our attraction to another is based on our perception of who we are when we are with that person. Irina feels comfortably self-contained, productive, and centered when she is with Lawrence, but she also feels a bit dull. She feels adored, enlivened, and known for her innermost self when she is with Ramsey, but she realizes that she has abandoned her career and begun to eat and drink to excess. In a life without Ramsey, Irina will never know the heights of intimacy that she is capable of. She will always wonder what could have been. If she abandons Lawrence, however, a part of her will always be haunted by the years of comfortable, sustainable camaraderie that she threw away. She will always mourn the part of her that she left behind.

Shriver also realizes that time has a way of playing a cruel joke on our affections -- the thing that initially attracts one person to another is often the very thing that repulses us over time, and what we initially perceive as an irritating trait in a partner often prevails as a positive merit in the end, especially if the partner is no longer present from day to day. Ramsey's uncanny skill at snooker charms Irina initially, but she grows to loathe the world of high-stakes snooker and Ramsey's self-absorbed obsession with winning an elusive national title. Lawrence's overly casual approach to clothes irritates Irina initially -- she interprets it as a shabby failing on his part. With time, she fondly views his clothing as a symbol of his faithful and centered personality. Nature, blind chance, and the unforeseen behavior of others can also play cruel jokes, as evidenced by some of the jolting twists and revelations in Shriver's page-turning plot.

When faced with a romantic fork in the road, most people go through intense and prolonged agony due to their belief that the right choice will bring happiness and the wrong choice will bring misery, period. Shriver isn't afraid to tell us that misery will happen no matter what choice is made. Conversely, even "bad" choices can offer moments of joy and transcendence. My estimation of Shriver's intelligence, wit, and insight (sometimes subtle, sometimes ruthless) into human nature increases each time I read one of her books. "The Post-Birthday World" should be required reading for anyone who has ever made the kind of painful, once-in-a-lifetime romantic decision that invites haunting conjectures of "what if?" for years (if not a lifetime) afterward.