One Day
The beloved, multi-million copy bestselling modern classic
Published on 4. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
464 pages
978-1-3997-6521-3 (ISBN)
Description
One Day: the sensational global bestseller and major Netflix series
'A wonderful, wonderful book'
THE TIMES
'Perfect'
NEW YORK TIMES
'A modern classic'
DAILY MIRROR
'You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy'
INDEPENDENT
'Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable'
NICK HORNBY
Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.
15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year?
And the year after that?
And every year that follows?
ONE OF BRITAIN'S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS
'One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'An uncanny ability to make us laugh out loud, but also care passionately about his characters'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love'
THE TIMES
'No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does'
EVENING STANDARD
'Genuinely brilliant'
NEW STATESMAN
'A wonderful, wonderful book'
THE TIMES
'Perfect'
NEW YORK TIMES
'A modern classic'
DAILY MIRROR
'You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy'
INDEPENDENT
'Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable'
NICK HORNBY
Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.
15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year?
And the year after that?
And every year that follows?
ONE OF BRITAIN'S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS
'One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'An uncanny ability to make us laugh out loud, but also care passionately about his characters'
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love'
THE TIMES
'No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does'
EVENING STANDARD
'Genuinely brilliant'
NEW STATESMAN
Reviews / Votes
One Day is destined to be a modern classic * Daily Mirror * Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable A wonderful, wonderful book * The Times * I finished it last night and I'm still quite wobbly and affected by it. It was BRILLIANT . . . the jealousy nearly made me puke. I wish I'd written this book A genuine tear-jerker as well as laugh-out-loud funny * Independent on Sunday * This perfectly executed novel is a reminder that reading can be the finest entertainment there is * Guardian * The book I go back to time and time again is One Day by David Nicholls. I read it every couple of years. It's perfect A modern classic * Prime * One of the most tear-jerking novels ever written * YOU Magazine * I couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't love this book Re-reading One Day by David Nicholls is another version of putting on a Nora Ephron movie. It never gets old because the pleasure and comfort is in the language and the observations and the characters One Day changed my life Captivating * Hello * You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy * Independent * David Nicholls portrays the bittersweet experience of being a young man so brilliantly * iNews * A total treat . . . by turns bittersweet, funny, touching and sad, but always Nicholls's wonderfully observant and wry touch shines through. A way-we-live-now parable about relationships, disappointments, friendship and expectations; a novel utterly comfortable in its own skin * The Times * An off-kilter romantic comedy with charm to spare * Harper's Bazaar * It's rare to find a novel which ranges over the recent past with such authority, and even rarer to find one in which the two leading characters are drawn with such solidity, such painful fidelity to real life that you really do put the book down with the hallucinatory feeling that they've become as well known to you as your closest friends * Guardian * Nicholls has a gimlet eye for period detail . . . A beguiling read * Observer * A totally brilliant book about the heartbreaking gap between the way we were and the way we are . . . the best weird love story since The Time Traveller's Wife. Every reader will fall in love with it. And every writer will wish they had written it Who doesn't relish a love story with the right amount of heart-melting romance, disappointment, regret, and huge doses of disenchantment about growing up and growing old between quarrelling meant-to-be lovers? * Elle * As a study of what we once were and what we can become, it's masterfully realised * Esquire * A brilliantly funny and moving will-they, won't-they romance tracing a relationship on the same day each day for two decades * Heat * With a nod to When Harry Met Sally, this funny, emotionally engaging third novel from David Nicholls traces the unlikely relationship between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew . . . Told with toe-curlingly accurate insight and touching observation * Daily Mail * Nicholls captures superbly the ennui of post graduation . . . The writing is almost faultless, there's a great feeling for the period and it's eminently readable * Herald * Nicholls has a gift for zeitgeist description and emotional empathy that's wholly his own . . . [A] light but surprisingly deep romance so thoroughly satisfying * Entertainment Weekly * David Nicholls's One Day needs a special mention for its perfect encapsulation of Edinburgh's university experience. The novel takes place mostly in London but its two main characters meet as students here and almost - but not quite - fall for each other. Therein lies the tale * New York Times * A pleasingly collaborative reading experience * Financial Times * The funniest, loveliest book I've read in ages. Most of all it is horribly, cringingly, absolutely 100% honest and true to life: I lived every page The ultimate zeitgeist love story for anyone who ever wanted someone they couldn't have Warm-hearted, funny, endearing * Sydney Morning Herald * Page by page, the funniest book of the year * Uncut * Perfect for the beach or summer in the city * In Style * A delicious love story * Sunday Herald * A smart comedy, packed with the mistakes, mismatches and meandering conversations that make up real life * Marie Claire * A modern fairy tale, slickly put together. A gifted story-teller with lots of technical savvy * Scottish Review of Books * A compulsive read you'll want to devour in one sitting * Woman * A cross between Jonathan Coe and Nick Hornby, this is romantic, sharp and very English * Scotsman * Nicholls' unmatchable gift for dialogue and romantic plotting * Evening Standard * An unputdownable romance for the 21st century * She * If you're one of the very few people on the planet who haven't yet read One Day, this modern classic is a hard recommend. Nicholls's story of love lost and found over decades is a tear-jerker full of charm and heart. * Good Housekeeping * [O]ne of my favourite booksMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Hodder & Stoughton
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
n/a
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3997-6521-3 (9781399765213)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
David Nicholls is the bestselling author of Starter for Ten, The Understudy, One Day, Us, Sweet Sorrow and You Are Here. One Day was published in 2009 to extraordinary critical acclaim: translated into 40 languages, it became a global bestseller, selling millions of copies worldwide. His fourth novel, Us, was long-listed for the Booker Prize for Fiction. His latest novel, You Are Here, was an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller on publication.
On screen, David has written adaptations of Far from the Madding Crowd, When Did You Last See Your Father? and Great Expectations, as well as of his own novels, Starter for Ten, One Day and Us. His adaptation of Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was nominated for an Emmy and won him a BAFTA for best writer. The Netflix adaptation of One Day was executive-produced by David.
On screen, David has written adaptations of Far from the Madding Crowd, When Did You Last See Your Father? and Great Expectations, as well as of his own novels, Starter for Ten, One Day and Us. His adaptation of Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, was nominated for an Emmy and won him a BAFTA for best writer. The Netflix adaptation of One Day was executive-produced by David.