The novel “One Day” by David Nicholls gives us a glimpse of the friendship between Emma and Dexter over a 20 year span from 1988 to 2008. We see a snapshot of their lives on July 15th (St. Swithin Day) of each year.
The friendship starts right after graduation and continues into their mid-lives. In a sense, this is a coming of age story. We see how both of them change and their perspective in life changes as they progress through life stages.
Like any relationship, there are its ups and down. Half-way through the book one can’t help but root for them to get together. Will they always be “just friends”? Or will they ever get married, have kids, and live happily ever after? Even at halfway through the book, we do not know. It is this need to know — to see what become of them — that propels us to the end of the book.
So I will not ruin the story for you by telling you what happens. Just read or book or buy the DVD. A movie released in 2011 is based on this book starring Anne Hathaway as Emma and Jim Sturgess as Dexter.
Here is the DVD …