Quite a ways into this story, someone at a party asks Emma how she met Dex. “We grew up together.â€
Their growing up and getting old (er) after university is the story of this charming book, which is laugh-out-loud funny and, at times, gut-wrenchingly sad. It’s not so much chick lit as Jane Austen on fast-forward, with a true beginning, middle and end — plus a few weddings. A huge hit in England, the book is newly published in the U.S. Movie in the works: Anne Hathaway to star.
Author David Nicholls gives us Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, who are both very, very right and very, very wrong for each other. Nicholls’ great achievement — and the feat that got me to pick up the book — is keeping the lovers apart but still interested, and interesting, for 20 years.
Yup. Two decades. In other words, pale blue air mail to hand-held texts.
Emma and Dex never bored me; some of their lovers, or situations did. They’re smart, witty people thrown together again and again — and the reasons they don’t stay together make perfect sense. After one particularly awful evening, Emma says, “I love you so much. So, so much….I just don’t like you anymore. I’m sorry.â€
Emma is rigid, brainy, and holds people to an impossible standard. She over-thinks everything. It’s shocking when she tears off her clothes to join Dex skinny-dipping. Dexter is a pretty party boy who travels the world (misplacing love letters to Emma) then lands a career in television. He becomes famous. Drinking, drugs, women: he’s blissed out on himself, happy to try it all.
Secondary characters surprise; Dexter’s father provides a model of stern, unflappable love.
The “One Day†of the title is today, July 15, St. Swithin’s Day. Fitting that it’s a summer day; this book is a perfect summer read. Full bodied, funny, real. If you bring it to the beach, say you got sand in your eye when they catch you crying.