One Day

April 5, 2010
The Hollywood-ready latest from Nicholls (The Understudy
) makes a brief pit stop in book form before its inevitable film adaptation. (It's already in development.) The episodic story takes place during a single day each year for two decades in the lives of Dex and Em. Dexter, the louche public school boy, and Emma, the brainy Yorkshire lass, meet the day they graduate from university in 1988 and run circles around one another for the next 20 years. Dex becomes a TV presenter whose life of sex, booze, and drugs spins out of control, while Em dully slogs her way through awful jobs before becoming the author of young adult books. They each take other lovers and spouses, but they cannot really live without each other. Nicholls is a glib, clever writer, and while the formulaic feel and maudlin ending aren't ideal for a book, they'll play in the multiplex.

March 15, 2010
Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew get together (almost) following their graduation in 1988. We catch up with them annually on July 15, St. Swithin's Day, the British equivalent of Groundhog Day but with rain. Here, it's a prognosticator of how their lives are turning out. She's been in love with Dex for years, while he's been in bed with more women than we can count. He gets a job in "media" as a late-night TV presenter on music/rock star interview shows. She works at a crappy Mexican restaurant before altering course and becoming a teacher. Do they eventually find their way back to each other? Nicholls ("The Understudy") doesn't take the easy route, throwing lots of relationships and obstacles in our protagonists' paths. VERDICT This tale of youthful dreams coming true and perhaps not being so dreamy is written with great verve and charm, reminiscent of the works of Mike Gayle. A coming-of-age story for all of us who might still be wondering what we want to be when we grow up. [Reading group guide.]Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2010
Having already established his comedic chops in A Question of Attraction (2004) and The Understudy (2005), British author Nicholls now moves into Nick Hornby territory with this wonderful romantic comedy, which visits Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley on the same day each year over two decades. They first meet as college seniors in Edinburgh in 1988 and forge such a strong connection that it sees them through many rough patches, including Dexters success as host of a wildly popular if vapid TV variety show and his subsequent all-night partying with D-list celebrities, which turns his once-affable confidence into an insufferable egotism. Meanwhile, Emma struggles to earn a living as a waitress and to maintain her relationship with her boyfriend, a shockingly unfunny stand-up comedian. As Dexters career wanes and his marriage to an upper-class ice queen fails, Emma finds success as a childrens author. When they finally do turn to each other, its a beautiful moment, not only because they bring to the relationship self-knowledge that has been painfully earned through private heartbreaks and midlife compromises but also because they are their best and truest selves when in each others company. Nicholls writes so effortlessly and with so much wit and wisdom that he seems poised to earn the same recognition here that he currently enjoys in the UK.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)