The Versions of Us is Laura Barnett’s first novel, and plays out the three different possible futures of two students after they meet by chance while studying at Cambridge. The stories diverge after this initial meeting, with Barnett exploring how the consequences of this one moment can affect the routes their lives will take.

In the first part of The Versions of Us, Barnett paints a beautiful and realistic picture of Cambridge. Eva is from Newnham and Jim from Clare, and the conversations that these characters have revolve at first around work, drinking, the rain and cold, escaping the city, the future, and books; talk endemic to all students here! The frantic rushing around from place to place on a bike with no time to slow down and get your bearings is also reflected in the narrative, mirroring the reality of Cambridge life.

However, on speaking to my friends from home upon whom I had forced this book, I discovered that they did not experience the same feelings I had when the novel describes Cambridge. It seems that one cannot fully relate, understand and connect to the atmosphere Barnett is creating without having been there firsthand, and Barnett's experience of the university while herself studying Spanish and Italian gives an accurate depiction of a student's life.

The Versions of Us transports the reader from 1938 to 2014, from Cambridge to Paris and Cornwall. Perhaps Barnett's intention was for this to show that we are a result of our past and cannot be reduced to a snapshot of time in the present. Of course, you cannot get to the last page of the book without reading all the other chapters first.

As the book moves out of Cambridge and down the three different paths that Eva and Jim's lives follow, it gets complicated and quite difficult at times to follow. I found it required an increasing amount of effort to concentrate as the narrative progressed, and I lost the buzz that stopped me from putting it down when the book first started. This is not to say that the story goes downhill from here, but having started so brilliantly it had set the bar high for the rest of the novel. As the same characters feature in all the separate strings of narrative it can be tricky to follow what happens in each version; it's almost worth having a pen and paper handy to jot down a brief summary for each as you go along!

The main criticism I have of The Versions of Us is simply that it does not quite make sense. The proceedings of the tale are taken from three different perspectives, each differing according to the character’s own viewpoint, but Barnett never justifies why, to the extent that I am not even sure if the setting is fantastical or not. Are these personas grounded in reality or are they a figment of imagination? Do the characters inhabit alternative worlds or dreams? I cannot quite make up my mind as to whether it is some type of science-fiction or if I am just being narrow-minded in my need for explanations.

We will all eventually leave Cambridge, but as Barnett observes, the “city's not going anywhere is it?” Whether we will return or not is a different question, but I hope that one day I will be the old woman who chooses to stand on the Cambridge Backs, watching the students zipping past and being tutted at for getting in their way. Although this may never become a reality, I do believe that I will be the woman who will never forget Cambridge, and the ending of this book implores you not to either.

What we can take from Barnett’s work is that we, the readers, only get one shot at our reality, unlike the characters in this book. Make mistakes, seems to be the message, but do not forget that they were your mistakes to make, and that life may have been very different had those mistakes not been made. The author imparts that “some moments change everything”, so make every moment matter: at Cambridge and beyond.

This is a special book. It makes you think twice when you go cycling, and actually the thought of accidentally swerving into your future spouse is not that unappealing. It also makes you realise that the people you meet at university may feature throughout your life, and that the chapter doesn't end at Cambridge, but, rather, it is the beginning of a whole book.