Present: Shubha, Nic, Mark, Gill, Jenny, Alex, Nathalie
Ok, so I should have typed this one up earlier as I am struggling to remember the discussion although, for some reason, I recall that Mark, Shubha and I ended up at the new hotel at the south end of Westminster Bridge! Connected? Surely not!
Jen, I know, hadn't finished the book but was enjoying it so she left the table while we discussed the dramatic turn of events just before the conclusion. Mark didn't like it. The rest of us, so far as my hazy memory permits generally enjoyed the read. It fulfilled Nathalie's reasons for choosing it, being a straightforward, easy to read tale with a little more humour than the previous novel - something a little lighter. The main characters, Em and Dex, felt real, which is to say they were defined, suitably flawed and not always likeable. Post university days, menial jobs, career angst and family frustrations were all well sketched and jogged memories amongst our table of readers. One does wonder why Em put up with Dexter for so long, although it is clear that he loved her and made efforts to change in order that the relationship would work. Many of us felt that [spoiler alert] their relationship would not have survived and Dexter would have returned to his previous ways, probably having an affair with Maddy, had Emma not died so abruptly. We all felt that the simple way her death was written was shocking and moving and Dexter's reaction painful. But, sadly, I recall we mostly felt that a leopard doesn't change its spots. The ending, returning to the beginning was controversial; not universally liked. And we even discussed the title - One Day. The events of years are told through snap shots of a single day from each - the 15th July but I read the title as a romantic hope, harboured long and secretly ... one day, may be One Day.