Ahhh, so I know there’s a lot of fuss about Nicholls’ ‘One Day’ at the moment because of the Netflix series, but that’s not what brought me to this book. I absolutely loved Nicholls’ ‘Starter for Ten’ (great book, lovely film) and hoped for more of the same.
I can confirm that ‘You Are Here’ is also a great book. Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy.
This book alternates chapters told by Marnie (long term single and lonely Londoner) and Michael (getting divorced, keen walker and countryside-lover). They’re brought together by a mutual friend on a loooooong walk across the Lake District and then – who knows? – maybe even over to the opposite coast. The epic journey starts with a group of unlikely walkers setting off from the west coast of the UK with accommodation booked along the way. The weather isn’t great, the walkers aren’t all very keen, and gradually the numbers dwindle – allowing new friendships to be built between unlikely characters.
On the surface, this is a book about a journey. Each chapter has a little map of the area covered and Michael (a Geography teacher) can provide lots of detailed information about rock formations and suchlike – not always filling his companions with joy! But it’s much more about people and Nicholls is brilliant at characterisation. Even all the minor characters are recognisable types and I found myself comparing them to people I know and anticipating their actions (‘Oh, of course he’d do that!’)
For me, the star of the show was Marnie. She was sweet and funny, clever and determined, occasionally sulky and definitely out of her comfort zone in her new walking boots and waterproofs. The chapters narrated by her character were so relatable and hilarious as she worked through proofreading a dodgy semi-pornographic thriller, grappled with her loneliness but also kind of enjoyed the solitude, worked through her feelings about the other characters – and gradually let down her defences as she relaxed into her new friendship, making her extremely vulnerable. She’s also prone to some random conversation contributions which made me laugh out loud. I really loved her.
I liked Michael too, but there were more frustrations there – in comparison to Marnie’s openness, he was much more closed. It was good to see the slow revelation of his character through the long conversations had during the walk, but he clearly was carrying a lot of baggage too (not literally – he didn’t even have enough pants for the journey and only one good shirt!) A good guy, but one I was rooting for not to hurt Marnie.
This is a charming and generally uplifting book; it really explores the possibilities of new friendship and love, even after people have taken a bit of a battering by life. I found myself relating, laughing and really caring about the characters. I didn’t want to put this book down until I knew that Marnie and Michael were going to be OK, either separately or together. In fact, I kind of miss them now I have put it down – and that’s got to be the mark of a great book.
Header photo by Richard Bell on Unsplash
