David Nicholls is riding a wave of popularity thanks to the Netflix series based on his 2009 blockbuster “One Day.” The publication of his sixth novel, “You Are Here,” should see the Booker Prize-longlisted author garnering more acclaim. And deservedly so, for it is a warm, witty and beautifully observed tale about two lonely souls experiencing a new lease on life — and possibly finding romance — while traversing England’s green and pleasant land.
If “One Day” unfolded over two decades, then “You Are Here” takes place over 10 days — enough time, it turns out, for Nicholls’ characters to cover significant ground, both geographically and emotionally.
We first meet Marnie, a 38-year-old London copy editor going nowhere fast. Since her divorce she has led a solitary existence — working from home, losing friends to marriage and parenthood (or “to apathy or carelessness”) and remaining celibate. We are then introduced to 42-year-old Michael, a geography teacher from York, who still feels “cracked and vulnerable, like a cup with a glued-on handle” after his marital break-up and nervous breakdown.
Michael has planned to walk 190 miles across the north of England, from St. Bees in the west to Robin Hood’s Bay in the east, to take his mind off his troubles. To his chagrin, a friend creates a walking group to keep him company — one member being Marnie, who reluctantly joins after taking stock of the dire state of her “small and shrinking life.” When the other hikers fall by the wayside, Michael and Marnie are left to go it alone.
