Culture

Author: David Nicholls. Publisher: Hodder & Staughton (3/5)
The relationship between Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley begins the way many do in the fine institution we call university: an attempted hook-up following a drunken party. It’s the Eighties, the two have just graduated and the future seems full of promise. We follow the ups and downs of their romance over two decades, each chapter describing the state of affairs on July 15, St Swithin’s Day, each year. Sometimes they are together, sometimes apart, and sometimes at bitter odds with one another but always they are in each others’ thoughts, each gradually coming to recognise the significance of the other to their happiness and sense of fulfilment.
 

This is the third book authored by David Nicholls. His writing style combines elements of other British authors; the glibness that characterises Nick Hornby’s work combined with the melancholy and poignancy of Ian McEwan’s. Nicholls’ central characters are realistic; full of foibles, self-deprecating humour, and pretensions, they are both likeable and irritating in turn, but ever relatable to.
 

The storyline is wistful, on occasion to the point of being depressing, but despite this it is an enjoyable read with a few important life-lessons to impart. Far from being a fantastical and contrived thriller, One Day is impressive in its ability to captivate the reader’s interest in events and emotions that are, to put it plainly, commonplace. It reflects the “everyman experience” and illustrates how happiness can be delayed by giving into one’s fears of looking foolish in the eyes of others or of making oneself vulnerable by expressing feelings openly. Yet Nicholls’ refrains from patronising his readers with the morals of his story or from conveying any airs of philosophical superiority. After reading his latest novel, I’m eager to go back and read his earlier works, Starter for Ten and The Understudy, to see whether he has refined and developed his craft.