Review: One Day by David Nicholls

One Day by David Nicholls chronicles the story of Dex and Em - two undergrads that get together on the night before their graduation from university in Scotland.  Em is a little insecure while Dex is confident and decidedly more carefree than Em. Although their encounter on graduation day is brief, they stay in each other's lives for the next twenty years - they meet each year on the same day.  With this one day as the anchor, the reader gets to see Dex and Em's lives (and their relationship with each other) evolve and change in the twenty year time span.

Emma is more earnest in her love for Dexter than he is in return although even he realizes that she is a better friend to him than most.  The establishment of this "cat and mouse" dynamic between the two creates the necessary tension to keep the reader wanting more and more of the story as it follows these two from University into adulthood.  Emma does come into her own as the book progresses while Dex starts to spiral downwards; their friendship is what remains constant for both. 

My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book - in fact, I was sitting by the pool in Thailand until dark (good thing for the backlight on my iPad) riveted and unable to put it down.  I have deliberately been vague about the plot in my review because I think knowing very little about the book is what added to my reading experience - I was genuinely surprised by some of the twists and turns. 

I found myself really caring about Dex and Emma as characters.  There were times, however, when I grew weary of the cat and mouse - I either wanted Em to stand up for herself or for Dex to move on but these periods were brief and I mostly enjoyed the give and take of their friendship and, at times, love.  This is a lovely story about the friendship and romance of two friends but what captivated me the most was the evolution of the characters from their idealistic early twenties to their more pragmatic thirties and forties - it is an evolution to which I can relate (not the forties - at least not yet) and Nicholls writes so accurately about the experience that the book is relevant and make you nostalgic for your own early adulthood but appreciative of all you have learned in the years beyond.