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One Day / David Nicholls

Dexter and Emma, (known to each other as “Dex” and “Em”), nearly experience a romantic entanglement on the day of graduation from university in Edinburgh in 1988. Nearly, because it doesn’t quite happen.

The remarkable premise of this book is that it follows their relationship for only one day during the next twenty years as their life paths drift apart and then reconnect, all the while holding on to that initial infatuation that seemed to make them soulmates. Every chapter meets up with Dex and Em on July 15th, charting the sometimes surprising, and often humorous courses of their lives. Dex is a bit narcissistic and self-destructive; Emma a little lacking in confidence and drive. But they seem to bring out the best in each other and depend on each other’s support to get through life’s tough patches. This book out-Nick-Hornbys Nick Hornby. It’s authentic, it’s funny, it’s frequently dramatic, but never boring. I smell a movie coming.

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