Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls

Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls

Do you remember reading ‘One Day’? – well, it is 10 years ago that David Nicholls wrote ‘One Day' and had us all fall in love with Dexter and Emma. Now it is time to fall in love with Charlie and Fran. 

Meet the protagonist Charlie Lewis, 16 and in a bad place in his life. His parents separated just months before he had to sit the GCSEs, and he is not happy living with his depressed dad. Summer is here, and Charlie doesn’t know what to do as his friends are moving on with their lives, and the town is kind of too small to be interesting. 

Charlie falls upon wonderful Fran Fisher. She is 17, gone to the posh school in town, and not afraid of being in her own skin. However – if Charlie wants to be with Fran, who is quickly stealing his heart, he has to do theatre sports with a company that sets up Romeo & Juliet in town. As you can imagine, theatre sports is not really Charlie’s thing. Cool boys don’t do theatre, however luckily Fran has taken the lead in Charlie’s life and new doors open up.

Nicholls has written a book that will have your mind drifting back to being 16, school holidays and first loves. It is a mix of humor and heart, and it is a book that nails the attributes that has given Nicholls’ his fans. 

It is not a replica of One Day, but there is a thematic continuity of One Day and Us in Sweet Sorrow and Nicholls’ readers will be happy to spend time with Charlie and Fran. 

Pick it up if you liked…One Day by Nicholls or anything by Nick Hornby. Happy reading!

Reviewed by Lotte Bastholm

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