Name: One DayAuthor: David Nicholls
First published: July 2009
Published by: Hodder
Considering the high expectations I had for ‘the book of the moment’,* I was slightly disappointed with the opening chapter of One Day. I wasn’t totally sure whether I was supposed to like Dexter or not, and I later experienced the same feelings towards Emma. But the novel swiftly became attached to my person at all times.
We are first introduced to Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew shortly after they are introduced to each other: on the eve of their graduation. The novel ends the following morning, but the story of their lives is chronologically mapped out in between. The date is July 15th, aka St Swithin’s Day, and the narrator revisits them annually on this date for twenty years.
At first sight the structure appears to be an idealistic one, but the tale is injected with a dose of grim reality from the off. Neither are propelled into their dream career and lifestyle; something that will strike a chord with the recent graduate and evoke past memories in the long-since-graduated.
The course of their lives run very differently - sometimes they are together, other times apart - and it becomes increasingly evident that these two people bring out the best in each other. Suspense gathers as you wonder if they’ll ever get together, and frustration ensues when coincidences prevent them from getting their mail or reaching the phone in time. This novel is the ultimate dramatisation of any question beginning with ‘what if...?’
But One Day is more than just a version of the classic tale of nearly-there lovers; Nicholls has turned this most basic of premises into a heart-wrenching contemporary story with its feet firmly in reality. There are several laugh-out-loud moments, as the narrative is as witty as the characters, yet strong emotions are somehow evoked without a hint of sugary language. This mixture of comedy and romance makes it readable for both sexes.
Nicholls perfectly captures the idealism and anxiety of the post-university period. Emma feels ‘as if a fire alarm had gone off in the middle of the night and she was standing on the street with her clothes bundled up in her arms. If she wasn’t learning, what was she doing?’ Dexter is slightly less anxious about his future; ‘He wanted to live life in such a way that if a photograph were taken at random, it would be a cool photograph.’ On paper they are not exactly a match made in heaven, but this adds a further dose of reality. This realism borders on melancholy at times, but to me that was no bad thing. One Day does not view life through rose-tinted spectacles.
Dexter becomes a Russell Brand-type figure at his worst, while Emma is ever the down-to-earth librarian type, although reducing these loveable characters to types does them no justice whatsoever. They are perfectly rounded and their failings make them human. Dexter’s tragic flaw is his tendency towards excess; alcohol, drugs, and women, but Emma is struck by a tragedy of a different kind, without any prior warning or personal blame.
Is this a novel which speaks to a generation? Yes; the excessive consumption of alcohol will no doubt strike a chord with many, as will the question of what on earth comes next when education is all you have known since you were knee high to a grasshopper. I would heartily recommend this book to most people I know, and have already begun doing so. If you only read one book this year, chose this one.
*according to telegraph.co.uk
