One Day - Book Review

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'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, a hint of malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.'



Written by award winning author, David Nicholls, One Day is the heartwarming and equally heartbreaking story of Emma and Dexter; two unlikely friends who meet on 15 July 1988, the night of their graduation.

This book tells the story of Emma and Dexter; where they are, what they are doing on the same day each year.

Sometimes they are together, sometimes they are not; sometimes they are happy, sometimes they are in the depths of despair.

As their lives progress the author shows snippets of how they are changing; the way they are feeling, family and relationship problems.

The years pass, their lives change, their goals for life change. Some are fulfilled, some are long forgotten, and some are mourned over.

One Day captures the essence of what it is to be human. Neither character is without fault; both have flaws and idiosyncrasies that drive the other insane or help them realise how much they mean to each other.

The book is written in a way I haven't encountered before. Not only does it alternate between telling the story from the point of view of Emma and then Dexter, it also changes tenses which at first I thought would be distracting but ultimately found it engaging.

It's hard to classify this book as it isn't a soppy romantic comedy, it's a deep and meaningful look at two lives and how they are influenced by the decisions they make and the willpower they sometimes lack. It isn't all about candlelight dinners, walks in the park, it's about real life problems and the gritty details that come with those problems.

Some parts of the book were a little slow going, but the knowledge that the next chapter could answer your questions left hanging in the last chapter (as the story alternates between the characters), keeps the pages turning.

I'll admit I usually read books with more car chases and gunshots (neither of which are present in this book), but I quickly fell in love with the story and didn't want to stop reading.

One Day has been released as a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.

To read more about One Day and the author, visit his website at http://www.davidnichollswriter.com/

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