One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls

Genre: Adult General Fiction

The premise of this book is intriguing. Beyond the cliche of yet another love story, One Day follows two people's journeys through twenty years with plain yet plaintive language and humor. Nicholls chooses to paint this couple's saga in a series of vignettes about one particularly important day in each of their lives--July 15th. From foolish college days to woes of middle age, readers grow with Emma and Dexter, both who never seem to lose their individual character along the way. At times, I was frustrated and angry at Dexter's arrogance and fickleness and Emma's poutiness and lovelorn demeanor, and I rooted for their relationship's success in a perverse manner...'surely, two such stupid people deserve to be together'. But, such is life and such are human beings--no one is without flaws. In the course of 400-or-so pages and twenty book-years, I met and bid farewell to many people in Emma and Dexter's respective lives before they realize that they are both better off together. 

Oops, that could be a spoiler. But, I think anyone who reads One Day suspects from the very beginning that Em and Dex will end up in a relationship. Twenty years are a long time, and I think One Day spans two decades to show that little coincidences and general mundaneness make up every person's life and interactions with others. July 15th could be totally arbitrary, but, under the lens of Nicholls's One Day, July 15th becomes immensely significant. 

Rating: Leaves a Lasting Impression