“One day…” (Threatening). “One day…” (Wistfully). “One day… (Factually). There are many ways to interpret these two simple words. “One day you will be sorry!” “One day I will travel abroad”. “It all began one day in late September”.

But however you interpret the title of David Nicholls’ bestselling book One Day (Vintage Contemporaries 2009, used $7.50), be prepared for the impact this absorbing book may have on you. Told over the course of many years on the same day, 15 July, this book traces the relationship between two friends, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. Set in England, we move from their initial meeting after college graduation in 1988 through the changes, and challenges of their lives. It is serious, humorous and extremely absorbing. Nicholls created two characters you will come to care deeply about, and brings their story to a climatic conclusion some twenty years later.

This book left me sitting with an ache in my heart. “One day I will read this book again (Declarative).” You really should read it today.

“A wonderful book: wise, funny, perceptive, compassionate and often unbearably sad.” –The Times (London).