Unwillingly pretty and formidably clever Emma Morley and haplessly handsome Dexter Mayhew get together on their graduation night. Though they don’t sleep together, they become fast friends, dancing around the prospect of a relationship as they make strides into their postgraduate lives. Their mutual like lingers, setting off tiny sparks every time they’re together or correspond. As time passes, they wait…
And wait…
And wait.
There’s not a whole lot of substance to One Day, which is the main bafflement and standing issue I have with the book. It’s chick lit disguised as literary fiction: more lazy reading on the beach than glasses-on intellectual life study.
What Nicholls does well is keep the dialogue light end entertaining; safely – if only just – on the safe side of canny throughout. The characterisation of Emma is rounded and wry, while Dexter is less sympathetic but consistent. While their relationship does hang together, it’s not quite enough to fill 400 pages without feeling like there’s something amiss.