It’s probably a good thing that David Nicholls’ acting career didn’t take him stellar, because people adore his writing.(And how lucky is that, to have two talents to pick from?)
And people will, and do, love One Day. Partly because that cheery orange and white cover is gracing every 3 for 2 stand in the United Kingdom and a 3 for 2 offer is basically a Decree From God, and partly because, in Emma, Nicholls has written one of the best characters of the last few years.
Nicholls’s lovely gimmick is that each chapter rejoins two old friends on the anniversary of their meeting at university and gives us snapshots of what they’re doing. Dexter, a good-looking bloke blessed with charm and luck, is an absolute pillock, and is to be tolerated only because his zingy, wry friend Emma is just the most wonderfully-written girl. I started reading it before bed and found it so easy to read and fun that I was pushing myself to read faster so that I could cheat sleep until I’d finished it.
Emma’s letters to Dexter, her thoughts and the unrelenting crapness of her early-20s life in London fizz off the page. It’s entrancingly good writing – I want to find Nicholls, grab him by the lapels and scream “HOW did you come up with her, you utter, utter bastard?” – to the extent that it makes the later parts of the book feel all the more like an enormous cheat. Still, I cheated sleep successfully and read the entire book in one go. And, like everyone says, I laughed – out loud, properly – and cried – sobs, mind you, not just tears, great hulking sobs. He’s a horribly manipulative writer, this David Nicholls, but he judges his manipulation beautifully, even if it doesn’t always give you the results you want for Emma and Dexter.
This really is a perfect holiday book, but make sure to take advantage of those 3 for 2 offers because you’ll zoom through this on your flight there and then rue not bringing that monstrous doorstop, Wolf Hall.
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