One Day - David Nicholls

A novel telling two sides of a love affair that never quite seems to happen, One Day is a refreshing and gut-wrenchingly honest tale of love in modern times.

Set on the same day, July 15, over 20 years, the novel flips between the perspective of Em, a bright, witty feminist dreamer and Dex, a spoilt self-centred rich boy who has a soul well-hidden under his looks and designer clothes. The couple meet on the final day of university and the novel tracks their lives in the 20 years after their graduation day.

With this premise, the unlikely coupling could have been a corny, trashy romance. But with Nicholls's masterful touch and ability to perfectly capture the realities of relationships One Day is a hauntingly honest portrayal of how our prejudices, insecurities and day-to-day lives can delay and get in the way of what really matters: love.

Em is insecure, afraid and disappointed by the reality of life after university, finding herself working in a Mexican restaurant chain despite her first class degree. She believes Dex is too good for her. Dex is rich and without direction, travelling the world before landing a job in TV. Handsome and vain, he is too busy sleeping around to confront his real feelings for Em.

By treating the reader to both characters' thoughts and a life-changing letter which is never posted, Nicholls shares the nearly-said and nearly-happened moments that make putting down the book impossible. From the unspoken feelings on a holiday together and during a painfully horrendous meal during Dex's drug and alcohol addiction, the book charts how our fears of being rejected delay world-stops-turning romances. Em and Dex are divided by their unsaid feelings and class differences. Dex has the swagger and confidence of the perpetually rich; Em is obssessed with being downtrodden and feels inadequate.

Nicholls writing isn't wordy, worthy prose packed with metaphors; it is quietly observed, finding the love in people's flaws, however big or small. Dex is easy to hate with his selfish demands, his ruthless promiscuity and emotional dependence on Em. He is an alcoholic drug user who pushes away everyone around him and leaves his baby screaming upstairs when he decides he can't cope with her. But despite his list of flaws, he is written so well, the reader can't stop loving him. The same goes for Em and her chronic insecurities. They are both so well-drawn and realistic the reader roots for them even more.

The book is also packed with loves that never quite match up. Ian is a not-very-funny stand up comedian, who would do anything and everything for the smallest piece of Em's heart. On paper, he's the perfect man - but he's just not the man she loves. Sylvie is Dex's beautiful, cold and unnerving wife, the only woman he commits to apart from Emma.

One Day is a charming read about how love, however strong, can easily go unsaid and unrequited in a world where people are too afraid to say and let themseleves believe what they feel. Frustrating, sad and unrelentingly romantic, it shows that however we try to hide it and run away from it, true love cannot be escaped or avoided.

My next read: Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan.