How one man's love story becomes the story of his life. Beautifully written, empathic, and deeply moving tale of young love, hard lives and consequences.

Comp e-ARC from NetGallery. I have not read Barnes in decades - other than his book on cooking. Which is too bad, given his reputation, and how much I enjoyed his earlier work.
Thanks to some Goodreads reviewers for letting me know that this harkens back in plot to his popular "The Sense of An Ending".
My issue is that I never got a sense of his love for Susan. Maybe, as he states in the 3rd section of the novel, he needed to "save" her, but throughout the book he professes to have loved her. And I never had a sense of what Susan looked like - tall, since they see eye to eye, but other than her being a female, there must have been more to attract a 19 year old boy/man to a woman in her 40's. Yes, a unique, and life changing, experience, but still looking for the "love".
I read through this nightly, but what started out at first as "what happens next?" interest later became "lets get done with this" by the end.
The connection to "Sense" better explains one of my major questions while reading this novel, "what was the germ that lead to this idea, what lead Barnes to feel compelled to write this story?" I'll probably go read "Sense" some time soon.

Readers of Julian Barnes may recognize in his new novel The Only Story, a similar chapter layout to that of his Man Booker Prize award-winning novel, The Sense of an Ending. The latter was narrated by main character Tony Webster, who reflects on his past and the friends who were present throughout his life. The story takes place in the 1960’s, and is divided in two parts, adequately named “One” and “Two.”

In The Only Story, the narrator Paul is a now older man who thinks about the love story that changed his life. The novel is divided into three parts with only Paul’s pov, which may seem to limit the outlook of the story, but we soon figure out the reasoning beyond it.

Paul’s narrative begins at the point when he is a 19 year old college student visiting his parents while on vacation from college. Like in The Sense of an Ending, the time is the 1960’s, but in place of Cambridge or Bristol, Paul’s parents live in a small South London suburb, with nothing in the way of excitement beyond the tennis club and occasional cocktail parties.

Badgered by his mother to join the tennis club, Paul is paired in a doubles tennis match with Mrs. Susan Macleod, a married mother of two daughters and 29 years Paul’s senior. They become lovers almost astoundingly fast, but if you think Barnes’ intention is to portray the sexual acrobatics between a younger inexperienced man and a voracious older woman, this is not that story.

In fact, Paul and Susan’s sexual encounters are not mentioned in much detail, forfeited instead for Paul’s shameless presence at Susan’s dinner table with her family sitting between them, including Susan’s often stone-faced husband.

Paul’s lack of guilt in the presence of Susan’s family perhaps shouldn’t be judged too harshly, and certainly not under the scope of adulthood. Youth is more often than not irresponsible, selfish and eternally optimistic and Paul fits right in with what could be expected of someone his age.

Don’t expect Barnes to dissect the revolutionary changes of the 60s or any kind of social commentary that could reside alongside it either. As Paul himself says: “The time, the place, the social milieu? I’m not sure how important they are in stories about love…this isn’t one of those stories.”

And surely Paul has a point? Not every story set in a controversial area is in need of a profound sociological study. Isn’t the primary responsibility of a writer mainly to write a good story? Whether that eventually garners the story to be the lens in exploring a certain era, in this case 1960s Britain, is up to the writer. But sometimes the time is just time. A background is just a background. And not everything has to have a secondary meaning. If you’re looking for that in this novel, you may be in want of a different plot.

In regards to Susan and the apparent cavalier way in which she seems to take on a lover who is younger than her daughters, might be judged as typical “desperate housewife” behavior. But let’s not pass sentence just yet. While it may be tempting to either condemn Susan for her adultery or to commend her for her audacity, both actions would be premature. With only Paul’s voice narrating the story, we are constricted by his view of things which are extraordinarily limited by his youth and naiveté.

As Susan and Paul’s relationship progresses to the point of her leaving her family and both setting up a home of sorts in London, things are by no means easier. Susan carries behavior patterns acquired during years of enduring an abusive husband and a stale life, and while she sees Paul as her savior, she isn’t free of her past.

In the present time, Paul’s memories of Susan and their time together are complicated, his reflections of his life with her are a mixed bag of gaps, fondness and despair. He finds that he can’t remember certain things that should be important, such as who kissed who first or whether Susan ever had an orgasm.

Instead Paul remembers her tennis game, the shape of her ears and her catch phrases. He also recalls the point when their relationship started to deteriorate, how they began to pull away from each other, how he was there for her wholeheartedly even though the love that brought them together changed and shifted until it became unrecognizable to them both.

The Only Story is not Julian Barnes’ saucy tale of the affair between an older woman and a younger man during a decade that screamed sexual revolution. It is a story of love, of the optimism of youth, of the beginning of a love and how it eventually changes. As Paul puts it: “Who can control how much they love? If you can control it, then it isn’t love. I don’t know what you call it instead, but it isn’t love.”

The Only Story is a love story, and it must be read as such. To look at it from any other way, would be to miss its point entirely.

Leaving this unrated. I've made it to 30% and this is an author I usually adore. His writing is wonderful as always but the plot just doesn't appeal. Quite frankly, I'm bored and just can't continue reading this. When a book is a chore to read the best thing to do is move on. It is what I have decided to do with sincere apologies to the author.

Nineteen year old Paul was home on summer break from University when his mother suggested he join the local tennis club in their small conservative town in Surrey. His mother hoped that he would make friends with some of the young girls his age who belonged to the club and possibly find a wife.

Then he was paired in a doubles match with Susan Macloud, an attractive woman his mother’s age. Soon the two became close friends with Paul driving Susan around. Eventually they became lovers. Susan was unhappily married to an abusive, alcoholic and was the mother of two girls older than Paul.

The relationship flourished on breaks from University and the occasional visit from Susan to Paul’s school. Susan’s husband, Gordon, was aware of the affair as Casey Paul often visited the house for meals and also when Gordon was working. Eventually the affair became public and both Susan and Paul were expelled from the tennis club.

Once Paul graduated from University, Susan left her family home and bought a smaller place where she and Paul could live freely. Paul continued on with law studies and Susan remained at their home with no other friends and little to keep her busy. She resorted to alcohol and before long she became a serious alcoholic. She would not divorce Gordon as it would mean exposing the affair. However she did visit the old house occasionally since she was still the co-owner. Her interactions with Gordon on these visits were often violent.

Early in their relationship, Susan explained that although she had loved another man, she had her first sexual experience with Gordon. She also said that there had been no sexual contact with him since the birth of her daughters. Paul was inexperienced as well with only a brief sexual encounter once before.

This is a story about love and regret from Paul’s point of view. Years later, when the relationship cooled, he lamented spending his 20s tied to an older, needy woman when he could have been enjoying the single life and eventually settling down to start a family. It is as well written as other books by Barnes that I have read.

Julian Barnes writes beautifully and in this regard, The Only Story does not disappoint. It was difficult to put the book down at first, but as the book moved on I lost some interest. It felt like a story I have read before and once we started rolling down that hill, there were no unexpected turns. I am still a big fan of his, but this book felt less extraordinary than the others to me.

A heartbreakingly gorgeous meditation on love, loss, and loneliness, the paths not taken in our lives, and the power of one path to change everything after it.

A fluid, beautiful journey of true love and epic sadness. Very reminiscent of The Sense of an Ending, this book chronicles the life of a man who dabbles back into nostalgia to reflect upon the life he leads. I'd recommend this title to those who are looking for a book of substance, but with easy readability.

Julian Barnes has written a novel of devastating beauty. While picking up on themes familiar to readers of Barnes -- death, love, the elusiveness of memory and the past -- this novel expands into new territory through its exquisite use of language and exploration of the true nature of love. As a young man, Paul meets and falls in love with Susan, a woman decades older than him. But their romance isn't cliche or romanticized, as with similar relationships throughout film and literature. Instead of a story about forbidden love or about pushing the boundaries of social mores, The Only Story follows the lovers through their early romance, into their decision to live together, and, eventually, through their anguished lives as Susan falls deeper into alcoholism and despair. It's a love story filled with humor, deep thought, and painful truths.

Is love the only story? And can there ever really be a happy ending? In the case of Barnes' characters in The Only Story the answers to those questions are yes and no. Susan and Paul's nontraditional love affair is doomed from the start, but that doesn't stop you from hoping that it isn't.. An examination of love and its possibilities and limitations.