If you're a Generation Xer you’ll really relate to this book. You'll either see glimpses of your younger self or someone you knew. If you lived that privileged youth that meant you were free to make it through uni on your wit, party your early 20s away without much direction and then land surprised in your late 30s to find responsibility, then it's likely to speak to you. One Day traverses our adult years so far using songs, fashion, experiences, and even a brand of cigarettes, as markers for a generation who like to think of itself as undefined. While it does make you cringe, it's also an insight into how far we've come, to see how we’ve grown up.
It tells the story of the enduring friendship between Dex and Em. They meet on their last day of university in Edinburgh when they wonder if they'll ever see each other again, and we follow them for 20 years.
It's surprising how satisfying it is. At first you think maybe it's just going to be a good page turner of a romance novel. But straight off it has a clever format with each chapter about the same day every year, starting on St Swithin's Day, July 15th 1988. While reading I can't help myself skipping ahead, curious to know what happens next year. I know it's a terrible trait so I studiously go back and read all the words and find the writer knows something about life. When Emma braves her friend’s wedding dateless I empathise, knowing that awful loneliness of when you're surrounded by people you know at joyous event but just feel so out of place and alone.
But it's when Nicholls talks about love and loss that the book takes on universal appeal. Isn't love and grief something we've all felt throughout the ages? They're common experiences of being human. Dexter explains to Emma about being engaged to someone else and a moment passes between, "… perhaps half a second when their faces said what they felt." Haven't we all felt a connection with someone else and we both recognise it but due to the circumstances we aren't capable of expressing it? The writer captures these familiar experiences so easily.
Another example is the way the author explains loss: "These days grief feels like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger that he will plunge through. Now he hears the ice creak beneath him, and so intense and panicking is the sensation that he has to stand for a moment, press his hands to his face and catch his breath." For those of us who have been there, you'll know it's just how grief hits you - for real.
So if you're 40 (or a couple of years either side) read One Day for a bit of fun but also to take a moment and catch your breath – to look back at where you've come from and think about how you might like to live the next 20 years.