Overview

One Day follows Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew over twenty years, beginning on 15 July 1988, the night of their university graduation. After spending that day together, they go their separate ways but reconnect on the same date each year, witnessing how their lives, dreams and relationship evolve amidst changing fortunes and regrets.

Writing & Voice

We found Nicholls’s writing witty, poignant and deeply observant. His tone blends humour with sadness, grounding the highs and lows of life and love in brief annual snapshots rather than a continuous narrative. This creates a rhythm that feels reflective and true to how memory works.

Content & Perspective

The story revisits Emma and Dexter on 15 July each year, showing their struggles with work, relationships, success and failure. Emma often wrestles with unmet aspirations while Dexter navigates fame and self-destruction. Despite their differences, their bond deepens in fitful, unpredictable ways, showing how life shapes character and connection.

Themes

One Day explores love, friendship, identity and the passage of time. It shows how two people can remain tied by memory and longing even as they grow apart and back together, asking readers to consider what love means when it is lived in fragments rather than certainty.

What Worked

• Rich character development over decades.
• Inventive annual snapshot structure that sustains emotional impact.
• Blend of humour and melancholy that feels authentic.

Minor Quibbles

• The annual snapshot approach can feel disjointed between chapters.
• Later developments may surprise readers used to a more traditional romance.

Final Thoughts

We found One Day tender and unsparing, using its annual snapshots to show how love and friendship are shaped as much by missed chances and timing as by devotion.

Rating: ★★★★☆½ / 5