Set in the Northwest and Northeastern English countryside along the rambling trails and hiking throughways, David Nicholls’s latest novel, You Are Here might just inspire you to make a multi-day trek in the wilderness with friends and acquaintances.

After the wildly successful novel One Day published in 2009 which was turned into a movie in 2011 starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess and then into a limited TV series released this year, the master of romantic modern-day dialogue and story-telling has returned with arguably a more endearing and relatable romantic storyline, and this time set entirely in England.

Set along trails running through Cumbria, North Pennines and North York Moors, the hike begins at St. Bees on the NW side of England along the Atlantic coast with the end of the route for one of the characters, Michael, who is keen to walk the entire width of the country as this famous route consisting of 190 miles devised by Alfred Wainwright would lead him to the North Sea arriving at Robin Hood’s Bay Beach in Whitby, Yorkshire. Marnie, the unexpected love match by their mutual friend Cleo, who is planning on hiking for three days along with everyone else.

~See the route below, and what is delightful about the book is that while all of the accommodations as well as locales are fictional, there are accommodations and places to explore and dine in these pit-stops (for example while Sarah Nelson’s gingerbread isn’t mentioned, it is alluded to as the duo arrives in Grasmere for a respite and pop into a petite cottage for a treat). So while you won’t want to use this as a precise and exact guide, let it inspire you to get outdoors in the Lake District and beyond. These really are special routes of exploration and discovery.

Tangentially, Marnie and Michael have known of each other for about 13 years as they are the godparents of Cleo’s now teenage son Anthony. Marnie hails from London and met Cleo years ago in an earlier career, and Michael teaches geography in the same school as Cleo who is now the deputy head of the school located in York.

Aged 37 and 41, both Marnie and Michael respectively are divorced and separated. Each have their relationship traumas that gradually are shared either along the trail or in first-person dialogue of each character as the novel rotates back and forth with each chapter’s narration of the story.

With short chapters, once the hiking begins, it is only when the two are the remaining two hikers (it begins with five hikers) that the chapters stretch in length conveying the deepening of the connection of Marnie and Michael as they share more about themselves, however, not with the intention of anything more, merely to continue trekking onward.

Nicholls’ ability to capture quick and believable dialogue moves the hike forward quickly and before you know it you’ve arrived at the next respite for a meal, shower and sleep.

Of course, the two hikers realize their interest for one another at different moments, which leads me to guess that this will become a feature film at one point down the road, and I most definitely would love to watch it.

If nothing else, viewing a film to see the beauty of the Lake District after having experienced hiking on some of these trails in rain soaking conditions similar to the first few days of the hike portrayed in the novel would be especially lovely (take a look at the post and video of my day-hike around Grasmere Lake and to see Beatrix Potter’s farm here). But also, to see the characters come to life even more than they already do on the pages.

Without spoiling the ending, the novel concludes in London, and while the countryside shines, so too does the city in the limited moments we spend time there.

While a lengthy novel, 349 pages, once you start reading, you don’t want to put it down, and I had whizzed through it in a weekend. A wonderful book to pick up and enjoy during the holiday respite about to arrive that is Between the Years and while the book is set during the Easter two-week holiday, the plans are made during the New Year’s holiday, so perhaps this will inspire plans of your own to get out and explore.

You Are Here: A Novel by David Nicholls

copyright: May 24, 2024

You Are Here was chosen as the Petit Plaisir for episode #394, Setting the Foundation for An Extraordinary New Year and Beyond of The Simple Sophisticate podcast

~Explore more Petit Plaisirs here in TSLL’s Archives.