For the moment she felt content, not because she’d spoken but because she’d been listened to.
Page 153
In a nutshell
Marnie is stuck in a lonely existence in her London flat, saying no to everything that passes by. Michael has been spiralling since his wife left, using long solitary walks as his coping mechanism. When a mutual friend conspires to bring them together, they find themselves alone in terrible English weather on an epic walk towards self growth and new friendship.
Book Club Notes
This is the first David Nicholls book I have read, but I did watch the One Day miniseries on Netflix which is based on his bestselling book, and he acted as one of the producers. It took me a while to get into it but by the end I loved it. There was a simplicity and slow burn to the One Day story which really sticks with you. Based on that and the high praise printed on this book’s jacket and within the cover pages, I expected this to be brilliant.
I wouldn’t outrightly classify this as a brilliant must-read book but it was very good. It’s probably one of the most mature and realistic* romance novels I have read. It is thoughtfully constructed, well written, funny and meaningful. The characters come to life and by the end of the book, you really feel like you know them. In this sense, it very much reminded me of One Day, but it is lacking the same wow factor and there are no real twists. What made me appreciate this book more was reading The Lost Lover by Karen Swan right after – sometimes it takes something mediocre to highlight how special something else is.
You might not immediately love it, but you learn to as the pages progress. Realistic right?
*Realistic on a romcom scale, it is still a romcom, which will always have an unlikely air about it.
Read If
You enjoyed One Day (the book, movie or series) and prefer romance novels that feel realistic and mature.
Rating
Writing – 10/10
Character Development 9/10
Plot Twist – 1/10
Shareability – 8/10
The Nitty Gritty
Published by: Sceptre, Distributed by Jonathon Ball
ISBN: 978-1-444-71545-3
Pages: 345
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A note on our book ratings
Storyline: How good is the storyline? Is it believable and complex or does it make you shake your head in its ridiculousness?
Writing: How well written is the book? Do you find yourself wowed by the writing or unimpressed?
Character Development: Do the characters evolve and grow through the book and are they multi-dimensional?
Plot Twist: Were you able to predict the end, or did the author give you some surprises along the way to keep you on your toes?
Shareability: How likely are you to share the book?
