Dear Mr David Nicholls...

I recently read One Day and though I'm sure you're tired of hearing and reading variations of the following statement: it was really really good. 

I'm going to bore you further by telling you why I enjoyed this book so much.

Before reading One Day, I made the horrendous mistake of reading a number of books (I know, you'd think I'd stop after the first one) based around young women, who are described as "quiet and thoughtful." These women, the protagonists of these stories, spend chapter after chapter moping around after these boys who made them feel terrible about themselves. My most hated phrase frequently turned in these books was "she felt weak" - mostly in his presence.

I couldn't help but shudder at the thought of young women, any woman really, reading these books and thinking that silence was a desired trait by worthy men. 

And this is where you come in. Emma gets just as lost as anyone else but she wants better for herself. Emma doesn't settle for Ian because she knows she deserves to be with someone she in love with. More than that, even when she has the opportunity to be with someone she does love, she still knows what she wants. She doesn't settle for a fling with Dexter in Greece and she doesn't let him hurt her when he goes off the rails. Emma Morley is always her own person, even as that person changes over time. The only weakness she feels is within herself and not at the hands of anybody else.

You've written an interesting and relatable female character. A woman with passion, intelligence and by some miracle she's still able to find love. Eventually. I can't recommend this book to people enough and I hope they get as much out of it as I did.

(I wrote this before I read The Understudy but also want to extend my praise about Nora Harper. She's edgy, I like her.)