I was thrilled to receive the ARC of David Nicholls' latest novel, You Are Here. I am a huge fan of his writing and have read all of his novels. He is a brilliant writer, excellent at creating characters you can really care about. Here we have Marnie and Michael as the protagonists. Both single (Marnie is divorced and Michael separated) and both happy on their own. They are cajoled into going walking by a mutual friend but one by one the others drop out leaving Marnie and Michael to get to know each other.

I loved this novel. Michael is less of a pratt than some of Nicholls' other male leads and you really feel for him. Marnie is brilliantly funny, a worthy successor to Emma in One Day. This is a gentle., lovely novel and I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Having read 'Us' and watched and LOVED 'One Day' I was so excited to read 'You Are Here'!

David Nicholls is brilliant at exploring the messiness of relationships. Marnie and Michael are such well developed characters it is impossible to think that they are not real.

As an English teacher, I could particularly relate to both characters: Michael, a geography teacher and Marnie a copy editor.

I'm giving it 5* for its enjoyability. When I wasn't reading it, I wanted to be and from beginning to end, it was a pleasure.

This is romance with substance.

I had a lot of anticipation before I started this book based on previous books from David Nicholls. I was not let down at all.
Michael and Marnie meet on a coast to coast walk arranged by a mutual friend. Without giving away any spoilers, this was a book about two difficult characters who make friends. It is beautifully written, an absolute joy.
Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy to review

Thanks to Hodder and David Nicholls for the ARC provided via NetGalley; this is my unbiased review.

You Are Here by David Nicholls
Hodder Books, 23rd April 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:
Sometimes you need to get lost to find your way

Marnie is stuck.
Stuck working alone in her London flat, stuck battling the long afternoons and a life that often feels like it's passing her by.

Michael is coming undone.
Reeling from his wife's departure, increasingly reclusive, taking himself on long, solitary walks across the moors and fells.

When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship.

But can they survive the journey?

Review:
A weekend spent wrapped up in bed with You Are Here was reading at its best. The lack of distractions, coupled with David Nicholls' evocative portrayal of Marnie and Michael allowed them to spring forth from the pages. Their ensuing journey formed an emotive, engrossing screenplay in my mind.

Traversing the vast, vivid landscape, feeling the icy rain working its way through walking gear, and experiencing every emotion through each leg of the duo's arduous walk, I became utterly captivated with them both, as individuals, and as new friends.

What David Nicholls manages to achieve, time and again, is to make the reader lose sight of everything else apart from what is happening in the words he has written; he has certainly done it with You Are Here. I emerged from my cocoon at the end, bereft at the loss of my new friends Marnie and Michael. Hopefully, their story lives on.

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Marnie and Michael are brought together by a mutual friend as part of a group doing a walk along Wainwright’s famous coast-to-coast path. The others either don’t turn up or swiftly drop out, leaving them to trudge on together through inclement weather, awful overnight lodgings and extremely challenging paths, as well as the beauty of lakes, mountains and fells. They begin to form a tentative friendship, not least because of what they have in common- both carry the heartache of failed marriages and childlessness, have lost confidence in themselves and are lonely, although they have learned to find pleasure in solitary pursuits as well. Will they able to build on this experiences after their journey ends? Nicholls is such a warm and funny author, taking ordinary people and situations and creating magic. This story is so readable but every page is full of clever and observant writing, witty word play and vivid description. I particularly enjoyed the running jokes, such as the wifi password at every stop being a variant of “Wainwright” and Michael’s constant geography allusions. His characters are so realistic and relatable, you feel their pain, embarrassment and hope. Avoiding cliches, this is a tender, moving and uplifting read, and possibly my favourite of all his books.

I was delighted to be accepted to read this book prepublication after being a fan of David’s work for many years.

Michael, a geography teacher in the North, enjoys walking. Walking alone in solitude. This need to be alone in nature has further increased since the breakdown of his marriage.

Marnie works from home in London, and since the pandemic, has found home to be her refuge.

When Michael decides to complete a coast to coast walk, his colleague and mutual friend of Marnie invites herself along for part of the journey as well as asking Marnie to join. As reluctant as Marnie is, she decides to join for the initial part, meeting the others in the group when she arrives. Finding out from Michael that they have previously met, they fall into an acquaintance as they set off from the west coast of England. Neither could predict what is to follow….

This book was a wonderful read. I loved both protagonists and I love the way David writes. Certain this book will be a smash hit.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review.

With the success of One Day on Netflix, there’s a lot of attention on David’s latest novel… which stands up proudly to that global bestseller. Taking place on a walk across the north of England, readers will meet geography teacher Michael and copy editor Marnie. Both aren’t the most social of people and walking quite a few miles offers relief in many way – but only if they chat to get through it. They’re both dealing with the results of romantic entanglements and hope that two lonely people can find solace by putting one foot in front of the other. Of course, it’s a Nicholls’ novel so there’s a lot more involved than that. At times wryly funny, at others bittersweet, he so deftly captures the moments of delicate thrill and quiet excitement when two people meet and have a moment. As Marnie and Michael share stories, they open up and so too does their little lives. There’s a charm in reading this that’ll ensure you won’t put it down until it’s done. Second chances have never been better expressed.

I so desperately wanted to enjoy this book as I have loved David's previous novels. Unfortunately, I just didn't connect with the story, the characters or the overall writing of this book which is a real shame.

What can I say? I totally fell for it.
Nichols writes bit meets girl, but he writes it so much better then most.
Marnie, a copy editor, is 38 and lonely living a solitary life in London.
Michael is a geography teacher, coming out of a relationship.
They’re two strangers with a mutual friend who meet on a waking holiday:
It’s very simple but the dialogue and the characterisation are great and I’ve read it twice already!
Read it and have your heart warmed!

Marnie Marsh, divorced, 38, copy editor, living in London, lonely.

Michael Bradshaw, separated, 42, geography teacher, living in York, lonely.

And so it begins. Two complex characters meet on a coast to coast walk, all arranged by their mutual friend Cleo. Though not matchmaking for them to become a couple, Cleo has firm and forthright ideas that they should both ‘get out’ more, and arranges for another couple of singletons to join the party. When one doesn’t turn up and the other skedaddles due to the rain, Marnie and Michael do the walk together. Needless to say they have their ups and downs!

Even if Nicholls’ name wasn’t on the cover of this book you know it’s his work. Thoughtful and thought provoking, the observation of the characters is all true to form. The relationship between the two is awkward and touching. The description and narrative of the walk and the walkers, along with the landscape are lovely, such beautiful prose. The author is extremely talented with great observation for all the little nuances of a couple getting to know each other.

A lovely read.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton.

You are Here by David Nicholls is a sharply observed and enjoyable novel about love, life, death, the healing properties of being outside and walking but mostly it’s about loneliness and connection. I am sure this will be very well received.

The sixth novel by the author and likely to be one of the book highlights of the year – given it coincides with the Netflix adaption of his multi-million selling “One Day”. I have read “One Day” and his two subsequent novels – the Booker longlisted “Us” and “Sweet Sorrow”.

Although not quite my usual literary fare I admired both “One Day” and “Us” for their writing craft, storytelling and convincing portrayal of relationships.

And this novel I think follows very much in that tradition – and could even be his most accomplished to date.

The set up of the book is revealed in the first two chapters – which take us into the close third party viewpoint of its two main protagonists.

Marnie, thirty eight year old is a London based, self-employed copy-editor (she felt that there were too many semi-colons these days, so that reading was like climbing over a series of fences), “Married and divorced in her late twenties” to a husband her friends thought unsuitable who dented her confidence, she has become increasingly solitary over time (not helped by lockdown) - “Not an introvert, just an extrovert who had lost the knack” and now realises that she is lonely and unsure how to change things.

From the first chapter, Nicholls captures Marnie and her predicament - for example "She was not one of those girls who hired a nightclub for her birthday but she’d easily filled a room above a pub for her twenty-first, a long table in an Italian restaurant for her thirtieth. For her fortieth she thought she might go for a walk in the park with a friend or two, a once popular band obliged to play ever smaller venues."

As an aside in one of the few missteps in an accomplished novel (Nicholls has clearly worked very closely with his own publisher and copyeditor) the book Marnie is editing for the deration of this novel is a “very spicy” erotic thriller and Nicholls does play this card slightly too often for cheap laughs.

Michael is a geography teacher – and we meet him first on a field trip, trying to enthuse a group of disinterested teenagers with geology. Michael’s wife Natasha moved out during lockdown and the two are in the process of a relatively amicable divorce – the two initially drifting apart over their inability to have children. Michael has been left rather bereft (still rather preoccupied with the faint chance that perhaps he can get back with Natasha) and fills his spare time with hiking seemingly preferring his own company and landscape to people. Unlike Marnie he feels more of a natural introvert (at least after an incident he does not want to talk about dented his confidence) and initially at least more at home with rocks than repartee.

The two have a common close friend – Cleo – now Michael’s Deputy Head and an ex-colleague of Marine’s. Both are also close to Cleo’s oldest son. Cleo proposes a long weekend’s walking with her and her son and invites Marnie and two other friends: one a London based pharmacist she thinks would hit it off with Marine, the second a triathlete who she thinks would match Michael’s love of the outdoors.

Even before the weekend – which for Michael is more the prelude to a Coast-to-Coast walk - the triathlete pulls out, and despite a strong mutual attraction with Marnie the pharmacists aversion to countryside seems him bail early, followed closely by Cleo and her son as the weather takes a turn for the worse.

And so Marnie, who has booked a non-flexible return ticket, ends up with Michael for what is initially only going to be a couple of days.

From there the book is really about conversations and long-distance walking – discovering another person and a landscape, with all the ups and downs of navigating both landscapes, and with the unpredictability of both the English weather and the English character.

And there is no question that Nicholls is a master both of dialogue and capturing the process of hiking.

To say much more would be to spoil a story which, in common with most Nicholls novels, feels like it is taking a predictable path but ends up on a number of diversions.

Finally a word on the production quality of the book. The e-copy I read was illustrated with bespoke maps of each days journey (which as an aside have two clever developments in the book’s closing section) – but the hard copy looks like it also features a beautiful cutaway cover.

Overall I think this is likely to prove the perfect Summer holiday read – although not just a beach read it would be even more appropriate for a walking holiday staycation.

I think this will be a bit of a controversial review and I also made the mistake of reading this straight after reading "One Day".

I liked the Characters of Marnie and Micheal but I feel like I wasn't rooting for them. My favourite books are when I finish them and am wondering what happened to the characters after the end. The descriptions of the walking was gorgeous and it made me want to visit the lakes. I liked the fact that is was a realistic relationship between the two of them where it wasn't grand gestures but real life. At the same time though I found the pace very slow and I don't think the stakes were high enough.

The prose was beautiful as always I just don't think this book was for me.

A predictably wonderful read. In Marnie and Michael, Nicholls has created two complex, flawed, yet thoroughly sympathetic characters. He writes with generous humanity about their mistakes, weaknesses and misfortunes, rendering them whole and 3D. We see them at their lowest and worst, but we root for them because they're real. Nicholls tackles tough themes in this novel: marriage breakdowns, loneliness, the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns and the pain of involuntary childlessness. He's unflinching in his approach, but sensitive and even-handed, too. In another writer's hands, the depiction of a would-be parent's pain could have been flat and one-note, but Nicholls makes it layered and authentic. In the end, this is an honest but hopeful book: one I will recommend to friends, family and pretty much anyone who'll listen.

A truly joyful read - humorous, with some 'laugh-out-loud' moments; realistic characters and locations; gentle. Marnie and Michael are moving on from failed marriages, but feel life is passing them by, and a mutual friend invites them on a walking tour in the Lake District. The group splits up - too strenuous, too far - but they continue and the relationship develops, but life intervenes; and it intervenes again. No spoilers! All I will say is - read this. Worthy successor to 'One Day' and 'Us'; and bound to be a successful screen adaptation. Am looking forward to it.

With thanks to NetGalley and Sceptre for an ARC.

I absolutely adore David Nicholls. I think One Day is one of my favorite novels of all time! The Netflix series was our perfection. I cannot wait to read review and acquire his latest creation and I just know readers will be so excited to get this beautiful book into their hands.

Behind excited to share my full review and thoughts on this one. I was such a fan of One Day the novel as well as the series on Netflix. I'm so excited to share my thoughts on this one as well.

I think I’ll need a break from reading for a couple of days as Marnie and Michael have filled my heart and there just isn’t room for more yet!
Marnie and Michael are of course the lead characters in this new novel by David Nicholls. In their late 30s / early 40s they nestle perfectly in the middle of One Day and Us. They meet on a short walking holiday as part of a group organised by a mutual friend. Both are lonely after painful marriage collapses and neither really wants to be there, happy they think in their single lives. Except on a path up in the hills with no other distractions you get to learn a lot about another person and maybe, just maybe you can see a way to be happy with someone again. The course of true love never runs smoothly though with David Nicholls…. BUt this is full of humour, laughter, great characters, totally relatable and it never ever disappoints. Loved.