Review of One Day by David Nicholls

One Day, the latest novel by David Nicholls, follows the friendship of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley, who have met on the day of their college graduation in Edinburgh. After a semi-romantic interlude, the two go their separate ways, but promise to stay in touch. The novel checks in on them on July 15 of almost every year, beginning in 1988, when they have just graduated, and ends in 2007.

Dexter, who can come across as a bit of a cad, becomes a fairly well-known television presenter. Emma, on the other hand, toils away in a Mexican restaurant and ends up getting her teaching certificate. She's insecure and a little preachy. Each has romantic interests, but they always come back to each other. It's clear that no matter what is going on in their lives, they care deeply about each other, even if they're not entirely ready to admit it. There are many awkward moments between them, and there is an undercurrent that neither one will fully recognize.

I was a bit taken aback by the turn of the events at the end of the novel and am still not quite sure how I feel about Nicholls's choices.

I did think, though, that this was a fairly honest representation of a friendship between a man and a woman that stands up to the test of time, to lovers and spouses, to friends, to career changes, to rough patches.

Just One Pink gives One Day an 8.