You Are Here - David Nicholls

Amazon

---

David Nicholls - Forced Chemistry

I bought a copy of David Nicholls’ new bestselling novel You Are Here in Waitrose, basically for Clare to read in the bath.

So now it's my turn. I hadn’t read much by Nicholls before, though he’s widely admired for his skill in characterisation and the premise looked promising.

The story follows two lead characters, both lonely and recovering from failed relationships. Through a mutual friend — an exuberantly extraverted matchmaking deputy headteacher — they embark as part of a group on a coast-to-coast walk across northern England, the Wainwright route. Predictably, Marnie, the sub-editor, and Michael, the geography teacher, are destined to fall for each other, though neither has much regard for the other at first.

I had hoped for a subtle psychological study but found myself increasingly irritated.

Marnie, meant to be intelligent, sensitive, and introspective, unaccountably swears freely in public and often shows a baffling lack of judgement in men. The purpose is plainly to psychologically distance her from Michael's character - but Marnie would not be different in that way.

Michael, presented as conscientious and reliable, suddenly behaves in ways that contradict his nature — such as getting drunk midway through a gruelling Lake District hike (plot purpose: to begin breaking the barriers of middle-class restraint with his walking companion, Marnie).

Lazy work, Mr Nicholls.

The novel’s second problem is pacing. Across nearly 350 pages, their relationship must evolve from indifference through unspoken attraction to conscious intimacy — neither too fast nor too slow. Nicholls manages this psychologically challenging task by inserting a chain of improbable events to keep them both walking together yet physically apart — even including a B&B that bans men after 10 p.m. (a rule that surely vanished in the 1950s).

The machinery of the plot grinds on.

The reader does, of course, want them to end up together, but the awkwardness of the writing makes suspension of disbelief difficult - I thought Nicholls was better than this. Still, I’m three-quarters through and will see it out to the inevitable happy ending — no doubt at the lapping waters of the North Sea or similar.

---