Editions

The Only Story

The Only Story

**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.

First love has lifelong consequences, but Paul doesn’t know anything about that at nineteen. At nineteen, he’s proud of the fact his relationship flies in the face of social convention.

As he grows older, the demands placed on Paul by love become far greater than he could possibly have foreseen.

Tender and wise, The Only Story is a deeply moving novel by one of Britain's greatest mappers of the human heart.

Reviews

  • "A novelist at the height of his powers ... Quietly devastating."

    Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Times

  • "Exquisite."

    Kate Clanchy, Guardian

  • "Emotionally acute, profoundly beautiful, as droll as it is deep... this has to be one of the smartest novels that 2018 has to offer."

    Hephzibah Anderson, Mail on Sunday

  • "A gentle, bleak, and brilliant novel."

    Jon Day, Financial Times

  • "Immensely powerful."

    Alex Clark, New Statesman

  • "This intense, taut, sad and often beautiful tale may well be Barnes’ best novel for years."

    Lara Feigel, Spectator

  • "A tender and heartbreaking novel."

    Alex Preston, Observer

  • "As quiet and aching and intimate as a James Blake ballad."

    Rupert Goold

  • "A sensitive look at what makes lovers tick."

    Robbie Millen, The Times

  • "A vivid dramatization of the narcissism of obsessive love."

    Economist

More from this Author

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About the Author

Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life and The Man in the Red Coat, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Duff Cooper Prize. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur.

Julian Barnes

Related articles

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Extracts

The Only Story by Julian Barnes

Man Booker prize winner Julian Barnes' latest novel The Only Story is a poignant and tender portrayal of first love. Read on for an extract
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Podcasts

Julian Barnes reads The Only Story

‘Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.’ Author Julian Barnes reads from his forthcoming new novel...
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Features

Julian Barnes and Suzanne Dean

Man Booker Prize-winner Julian Barnes discusses the cover design of his new novel, The Noise of Time, with Suzanne Dean. Joined by Alex Clark, they recall key moments in their twenty-year working relationship, as well as the iconic covers that have been created.

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