Just Like You

By: Nick Hornby

Narrated by: Ben Bailey Smith, Hattie Ladbury

Brought to you by Penguin.

'Hornby is the poet of the everyday' Observer
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Lucy married just the sort of man you might expect: a university graduate who runs his own business. Unfortunately he turned out to have serious dependency issues.

Joseph is shaking off the memory of his last date, a girl who ticked all the right boxes and also drove him up the wall.

On an average Saturday morning in a butcher's shop in North London, Lucy and Joseph meet on opposite sides of the counter. She is a teacher and mother of two, with a past she is trying to forget; he is an aspiring DJ with a wide-open future that maybe needs to start becoming more focused. Lucy and Joseph are opposites in almost all ways. Can something life-changing grow from uncommon ground?

Nick Hornby's brilliantly observed, tender and brutally funny new novel gets to the heart of what it means to fall headlong in love with the best possible person - someone who may not be just like you at all.
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'Hornby is a writer who dares to be witty, intelligent and emotionally generous at once' New York Times

'Hornby's prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut' Independent

'Hornby writes with a funny, fresh voice which skewers male and female foibles with hilarious accuracy' Guardian

© Nick Hornby 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critic reviews

Unmistakably of-the-moment. Sharp, charming and upbeat

Well-told, thoughtful, tender and occasionally devastatingly funny love story

A charming - and sharp - love story about what it means to fall for someone who is your polar opposite

Frequently funny, consistently engaging ... it has great warmth in its heart

Hornby's hilarious and heart-wrenching new novel explores what it means to be somebody's perfect match, and why this notion of perfect compatibility is an absolute disaster when it comes to love

The capable crackle of his dialogue - honed by a string of successful screenwriting projects - propels the domestic drama forward at an easy pace, particularly effective in the voices of the children

The novel explores division and racism and has its share of sharp observations that help illuminate what it means to fall headlong in love with someone who is nothing like you at all

Nick Hornby writes so well about his characters . . . his most enjoyable book for some years

Hornby has always been a first-rate storyteller and Just Like You - just perfectly put together - sparkles with tip-top dialogue and pin-sharp comic timing

Truly funny . . . the novel gallops straight into something that is immensely readable, sharp-eyed and at times hilarious

Great story!

Hilarious! Finished it in a day! Loved it. The pacing, the wit, Lucy and Joseph.... everything!

Lesser Hornby

Hornbys first three books are some of my favourite books of all time. This is nothing like those. He showed in Juliet, Naked that he hasn’t lost his touch completely but he’s not immune from writing duds either. Sadly this is a dud.