OneDay
Reader’s GuideTwenty Years.Two People...
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1
To what extent do Emma’s thoughts and assumptions about Dexter [pp. 5-6] andDexter’s sketch of Emma [pp. 8-9] rely on facile stereotypes they each harbor? In what ways do they embody more measured reflections? How accurate are theirassessments? Does their initial encounter make the reader more sympathetic to one of the characters? In what ways might the reader’s gender, experiences, and prejudicesaffect their feelings about Emma and Dexter?
1a.
In the movie version, how do the lead actors (Anne Hathaway as Emma and JimSturgess as Dexter) convey the nature of their characters in these introductory scenes,aided by David Nicholls’ screenwriting?
2
What determines the path Emma follows in her post-university years? Is Emma’sexplanation of why she ended up working at the tacky Mexican restaurant –“there was a recession on and people were clinging to their jobs... the government had endedstudent grants” [p. 56] –honest? Have circumstances and “the city defeated her” or isshe responsible for her own plight?
3
In his unsent letter Dexter writes, “I think you’re scared of being happy... that youactually get a kick out of being disappointed and under-achieving, because it’seasier...” [p. 42]. How do Dexter’s insights into Emma compare to her own? Is he moreperceptive about her than he is about himself? Does Emma underestimate her talentsand potential? Despite its carefree tone, does Dexter’s letter betray certain doubts ormisgivings about himself?
4
Does Dexter’s meteoric rise in television change the fundamental dynamics betweenDexter and Emma? What aspects of their relationship remain unchanged? Whatinfluences the things they say and, perhaps more importantly, what they don’t say,during their afternoon on Primrose Hill [p. 60-72]? Were you surprised to find themvacationing together in Greece the following year? Who is more aware of –and affectedby –the sexual tensions and temptations they both experience?
4a.
With the movie’s shift of the vacation locale to Dinard, France, how does directorLone Scherfig mine the full beauty and romantic tension of the sequences there?
5
Is Dexter’s idle vision of his future [p. 9] realized during “the late twenties” (chapterssix through nine)? In what ways is the actuality of his life an ironic comment onhis expectations? Does he act in ways that undermine his happiness? Discuss, forexample, his visit to his parents [pp. 120-135]; his humiliating debut on Late-NightLock-In [pp. 176-7]; his hostile, crude manner at dinner with Emma [pp. 205-210];and his glib excuses and rationalizations for his actions [p.190]. What glimpses are thereof his more vulnerable side? Do they make him a more appealing character?
5a.
How, in the movie, is actor Jim Sturgess able to maintain our empathy for Dexter?
About This Guide
The questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for furtherreading that follow are designed to enhance your group’s discussionof
One Day
by David Nicholls. “A wonderful, wonderful book: wise, funny, perceptive, compassionate, and often unbearably sad”(The Times),
One Day
is a worldwide bestseller. The movieversion, with a screenplay by the author and directed by LoneScherfig (“An Education”), and starring Anne Hathaway (Emma)and Jim Sturgess (Dexter), will be in theaters this July.
About This Book
Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, casual acquaintances duringtheir university years, spend graduation night together. It’s July 15, 1988, and their futures are up in the air. Dexter, thehandsome, confident son of a well-to-do family, knows only thathe wants “to be successful... to live life to the extreme, but withoutany mess or complications” [p. 9]. Emma is determined to stay true to her left-leaning passions and ideals though she has littleidea of how she’ll do it. They part the next day with vaguepromises to keep in touch as Dexter sets off to travel the worldand Emma returns to her working-class family in Leeds to figureout what she’ll do next. Over the next twenty years, they’ll think about each other, sometimes to meet and reignite a relationshipthat neither can give up nor explain.
One Day
revisits Dexter and Emma every year on the anniversary of their first night together. Each July 15th becomes a snapshot of a particular time and place, offering an irresistible and oftenhilarious chronicle of the lovers they acquire, the careers they pursue, the culture that influences them, and the opportunitiesthey embrace or squander. As their stories unfold, David Nichollsbrilliantly explores the interplay of character and fate that shapeour lives.
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6
“At twenty-seven, Emma wonders if she is getting old” [p. 115]. Do Emma’s feelingsabout both the satisfactions and regrets that come with being “grown-up” ring true? What explains Emma’s relationship with Ian? Is she willingly deceiving herself (andIan)? Despite her impatience with him and his desperately unfunny comedy routines,does she have genuine feelings for Ian?
7
At the disastrous dinner on July 15, 1995, Emma declares, “Dexter, I love you somuch... and I probably always will. I just don’t like you any more. I’m sorry” [p.210]. Does Dexter recognize why his behavior leads to this break? Does he care? Couldthe dinner have ended differently?
8
When he meets Sylvie Cope, Dexter thinks, “And yet, despite all this, the downturnin professional fortunes, he is fine now, because he has fallen in love with Sylvie,beautiful Sylvie... “ [p. 251]. In what ways does the affair open Dexter’s eyes to new possibilities and a different way of life? What flaws in their relationship does he fail tograsp fully and why? What consequences does this have on the course of their marriage?
8a.
How is the marriage with Sylvie dramatized on-screen? Does the screenplay adaptation compress the relationship yet retain its significance in Dexter’s life?
9
What is the significance of the wedding Dexter and Emma attend [p. 269-296]? What do they learn about themselves and each other that surprises, pleases, orunsettles them? What do their conversations [pp. 286, 290, 293, for example]represent in terms of their personal development as well as the evolution of theirfriendship?
10
What does the rendezvous in Paris share with Emma and Dexter’s trip to Greecenine years earlier? What impact does Emma’s success as an author and Dexter’sfailed marriage have on the “balance of power” between them? Discuss the factors-including age, their individual circumstances, and the length of their friendship-thatcontribute to their willingness to be more honest and open with each other.
11
Do Emma’s musings about where life has taken her [p. 381] resonate with you? What do Emma and Dexter at forty have in common with the people they wereon graduation night? How does Nicholls simultaneously capture the ways people changeand the persistence of individual characteristics through the passage of time?
11a.
With the viewer having taken the journey with Emma in the movie, how hasactress Anne Hathaway’s portrayal evolved throughout the character’s maturing andgrowth?
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One Day Enhanced Reader's Guide
It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the…
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