About the book

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?

Why we love it

David Nicholls has an incredible knack for writing relatable and authentic characters, that feel just like people you know, and this latest novel from him is no exception.

The story follows the growing and unlikely friendship between Marnie and Michael, two people for whom life just hasn't quite worked out the way they'd hoped for.

Thrown together for a hiking mini-break by a well-meaning friend, the two find themselves opening up to each other about their dreams and disappointments, their passions and their interests.

I think what I love so much about this book is how recognisable it all is. Anyone of a certain age knows all too well the challenges of maintaining friendships as you get older when life takes us all in different directions, as well as the near impossibility of building new friendships once you leave your twenties behind.

After failed marriages, both Marnie and Michael have found themselves in that contradictory state of feeling lonely yet also valuing their solitude, something that's much more common than often acknowledged. While this might be a love story, it's one that begins with that first uncertain step towards finding friendship and connection and it makes for the most magical pairing.

Some books you know instantly would make great movies or TV shows and this is definitely one of those, thanks to the wonderfully vivid descriptions of the hills, moors and villages of the north of England and the cleverly observed cast of minor characters surrounding Marnie and Michael. 

A warm, heartfelt and genuinely funny novel, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's possibly one of my favourite books by David Nicholls so far. Not to be missed!