If you haven’t
heard of David Nicholls’ award winning One
Day, the chances are you may have been living under a rock for the
last three years. Not only has it been made into a motion picture but it has
been translated into 31 languages, appearing on best seller lists throughout
the world and becoming the highest selling novel of 2010.
The beauty of
the novel is its unique format. The story opens on July 15th 1988 as two students, Emma and Dexter, wake up together
on their last day of university. This encounter marks the beginning of a
special friendship which the reader revisits on this date for the next twenty
years. Amidst births, deaths, relationships, careers and the various other
twists and turns their respective lives take, Em and Dex maintain a
‘will-they-won’t-they’ relationship that keeps the reader guessing throughout.
But aside from
the clever structure, Nicholls presents us with two characters that are
intrinsically loveable, relatable and impossible not to care about. Dexter is
good looking and charismatic but arrogant and lazy whereas Emma is ambitious
and hardworking but stroppy and full of self doubt. Nicholls achieves the
difficult task of making them feel real to us and many readers will probably
find they know an Emma or a Dexter in their lives.
Their bumbling
romance is as flawed and complex as their personalities and Nicholls plays on
this in order to present the reader with a realistic, complicated love story.
Comedy and honesty replaces over-the-top, gushy sentiment but this somehow
makes their romance all the more touching and has enabled Nicholls to write a
novel that appeals to the masses.
Both men and
women love this novel because ultimately it is a believable account of a modern
day love story that is told in heart-warming yet funny way. Nicholls,
therefore, has succeeded in creating a romantic novel that has hit the
mainstream market without abandoning creditability or intelligence.
~*~
Francine
Westbrook is a freelance writer from England
2 comments:
It is of the most enjoyable book I’ve read in a long time. It’s one of those glorious books, where you feel as if you’re losing two very dear friends when you reach the end.
The book inspired me a lot it made me realize to not waste time. we need to treasure every second of it .
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