One Day Summary

In the early hours of July 15, 1988, University of Edinburgh students Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley spend the night together. The two are very different: whereas Emma comes from a working-class background and is interested in political matters, Dexter is from a wealthy family and doesn’t understand Emma’s ideals. On this night in 1988, they talk about their futures, and Dexter in particular has no idea what to expect by the time he’s 40. Afterward, Dexter considers sneaking out, but he ultimately spends the night. The novel follows Emma and Dexter over the next 20 years as each drifts in and out of the other’s life. Throughout, the date July 15 remains a significant to their relationship.

Emma initially struggles to live out her ideals, as she takes a job with the newly founded Sledgehammer Theater Cooperative but finds the work isn’t as interesting or inspiring as she’d hoped. She starts but never finishes many writing projects. Out of financial necessity, she works at a Tex-Mex restaurant and continues living with her former university roommate, Tilly.

Meanwhile, Dexter becomes a television presenter. Success seems to come easily to him, although his father and mother don’t particularly approve of the youth-lifestyle show he works on, which focuses on wild drinking and partying. He eventually gets his big break as the head presenter of a new show, but his success causes a backlash, and he sabotages himself by drinking heavily before his first on-screen appearance. Dexter also has troubles in his personal life, including the death of his mother to cancer.

Although Emma has liked Dexter for many years and Dexter has always found Emma attractive, the two of them maintain a platonic relationship for many years after university, even when they go on a vacation together to an island in Greece and go skinny-dipping. Their relationship begins to sour as Dexter becomes more involved in the entertainment industry and as his alcohol addiction intensifies. This all culminates in one night at a restaurant where women in costumes sell cigarettes, where Dexter and Emma have an argument that leads them to lose contact for several years.

Emma continues to feel directionless and at one point forms a relationship with Ian, a stand-up comedian who used to work with her at the Tex-Mex restaurant. They live together, but Emma never loves him, and at one point, while working a new job as a teacher, she has an affair with the headmaster, Mr. Godalming. Emma eventually breaks things off with both of them.

Dexter, meanwhile, starts his first serious relationship with Sylvie Cope, whom he considers to be one of the classiest people he knows. At a dinner with her aristocratic family, he feels awkward and can’t tell if Sylvie loves him as much as he loves her.

After several years, Dexter and Emma reunite at Tilly’s wedding. They talk about how their lives didn’t go as they expected, and Dexter announces that Sylvie is pregnant and that the two of them are getting married. Emma tries to congratulate Dexter but feels disoriented.

After the birth of his daughter, Jasmine, Dexter struggles to adjust to parenthood. During this time, Dexter drinks too much, and he smokes cigarettes in secret. His relationship with Sylvie becomes more distant, and she has an affair with Callum, a former classmate of Emma and Dexter’s. Ultimately, their relationship ends in divorce, and Dexter only sees Jasmine once every two weeks, a situation that is partly his own choice.

Emma, meanwhile, finds unexpected success as the author of a young-adult novel that turns into a book series and a television show. She goes to Paris to research the next volume in the series and invites Dexter to visit her there. Although Emma has begun dating a French man, she and Dexter finally admit their feelings for each other shortly after Dexter arrives, and the two begin a relationship.

Dexter and Emma marry and live a happy life together, although it’s not without challenges, including arguments and struggles with fertility. Dexter finds some success running a café while Emma continues to work on her book series.

One day, Dexter and Emma make an appointment to see a house they’re interest in buying. That never happens, however, because on the way there, Emma is riding her bicycle and killed by a car.

The anniversary of Emma’s death remains a difficult time for Dexter, and on the first one, he gets blackout drunk and requires his father’s help the following morning. Eventually, Dexter begins to make peace with his life and takes his daughter, Jasmine, to see the places in Edinburgh where he once lived with Emma. The novel ends with a flashback to the morning after Emma and Dexter’s first night together in 1988, with the two sharing a goodbye kiss and promising to stay in touch after they finish university.