‘One Day’ – a novel by David Nicholls (2009)
“The Polaroids that hold us together
Will surely fade away,
Like the love we spoke of forever on St Swithin’s Day” – Billy Bragg.
One Day is the kind of book you want to press into the hands of all your friends and say ‘you must read this’.
It may not be a life changing book, but it is a life defining book. It will help (although is by no means essential) if you happen to have been born in the UK between say 1950 – 1970 .
The novel spans a twenty year period and centres on the highs and lows in the lives of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew from their early twenties to middle age. The story begins in 1988 when they meet on the night of their graduation in Edinburgh.
Each chapter is set in a different year but it is always the same day – 15th July, St Swithin’s Day. This is a day which ,according to tradition, dictates what the weather will be like for the next 40 days. Continue reading
