‘If my life prior to 15 February, 2012 had been a song, it might have been ‘Hey Jude’, a simple piano tune, taking my sad and sorry adolescence and making it better. In the middle, it would pick up—better and better—for a few moments foreshadowing something extraordinary. And then: just na-na-na-na, over and over, pleasant enough, but mainly because it evoked what had gone before.’
— The Best of Adam Sharp
‘What seems like a run-of-the-mill chick-lit tale about “the one that got away” becomes a complicated exploration of marriage, what it means to love someone, and how life gets in the way.’
– Publishers Weekly
‘While Simsion’s touch is delicate, this is a dark comedy of manners, an adult entertainment that extends the range of his first, more light-hearted book.’
— Age
‘A great read—romantic, wry and well-written in that blokish David Nicholls-ish way. And totally rock’n’roll: Bob Dylan and Patti Smith fans will love all the references.’
— Daily Mail UK
‘[A] poignant glimpse into human relationships—what it is to love and to be loved…The Best of Adam Sharp hits you right in the morals and leaves you thinking—how far would you go for a second chance?’
— Books & Publishing
‘A smart, touching and warm-hearted tale of the power of love, and how far we can go to find it.’
— Mindfood
‘It’s a hugely romantic tale, and some of it is quite lovely and moving; some of it is funny and much of it is unsettling.’
— Daily Review
‘With very real characters, an engaging plot and plenty of wit, this is a joy.’
— Heat
‘Pop-obsessed, highly readable new novel from the bestselling author of The Rosie Project.’
— Mail on Sunday
‘Graeme Simsion does an excellent job of taking the rather simple premise of examining a great lost love and presenting the possibility of a second chance.’
— AU Review
‘We love The Rosie Project author Graeme Simsion’s The Best of Adam Sharp.’
— Fabulous, Sun on Sunday
‘…a well-written and thoughtful treatise on what it means to have loved and lost, yet be given the luxury of a second chance.’
— Book Reporter
‘How does Graeme Simsion follow-up his dual smash-hits of The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect? By penning a novel that is just as funny and poignant, but with a tumultuous moral core…it will resonate long after you’ve closed the book.’
— Pages & Pages Booksellers
‘Oscillates between profound emotional depths and absolute hilarity…So much fun!’
— Toni Collette
‘The Best of Adam Sharp is a novel that asks important questions, and is as moving as it is entertaining.’
— Booklover Book Reviews
A novel about love, music and coming to terms with the past, from the author of the international bestseller The Rosie Project.
On the cusp of fifty, Adam Sharp has a loyal partner, earns a good income as an IT contractor and is the music-trivia expert at quiz nights. It’s the lifestyle he wanted, but something’s missing.
Two decades ago, on the other side of the world, his part-time piano playing led him into a passionate relationship with Angelina Brown, who’d abandoned law studies to pursue her acting dream. She gave Adam a chance to make it something more than an affair—but he didn’t take it. And now he can’t shake off his nostalgia for what might have been.
Then, out of nowhere, Angelina gets in touch. What does she want? Does Adam dare to live dangerously? How far will he go for a second chance?
Adam Sharp was written just after The Rosie Effect, in which I’d shifted from the romantic love of the Rosie Project to what’s been called ‘companionate love’ — and how to make it work. It’s perhaps a more relevant question for many readers than how to find a partner. I thought it’d be interesting to write a novel that put the two in opposition, so we have Adam ultimately having to choose between his great romantic love and his long-term partner. To the tune of a sixties and seventies soundtrack, which underline the romantic option. It was a bit of a jolt for some readers after the Rosie books: infidelity, some transgressive sex, Bob Dylan. But some readers loved it: I still get people saying to me: ‘Yeah, yeah, The Rosie Project, but the book of yours I really loved was Adam Sharp.’
— GCS
