You Are Here (novel)

You Are Here is a 2024 romance novel by British writer David Nicholls. The novel centers on two middle-aged protagonists, who unexpectedly find themselves together on a long-distance walking trail across northern England after being brought together by a mutual friend.

The novel explores themes surrounding modern love, loneliness, second chances, and the search for human connection, continuing Nicholls' exploration of romantic relationships across different life stages that he pursued in previous works like One Day, Us, and Sweet Sorrow. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Nicholls's writing style, characterization, and ability to capture the complexities of modern love and loneliness.

Plot
The novel is written in alternating perspectives from two middle-aged, divorced and lonely characters – Marnie Walsh, a 38-year-old copy editor from London, and Michael Bradshaw, a 42-year-old geography teacher from York. Their mutual friend Cleo organizes a group to go on a long-distance walking trip across northern England, inviting both Marnie and Michael in hopes it will help them engage with the world again after their marriages failed.

At first, Marnie is interested in another member of the group, Conrad, but he soon drops out along with the others. This leaves just Marnie and Michael to continue the walk together, starting from the Irish Sea and making their way across the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North York Moors. Though Marnie had planned to participate for only the first few days, she keeps extending her time on the trail to spend more time with Michael.

Over the course of their journey, Marnie and Michael develop romantic feelings for each other and they kiss, though they stop short of being intimate when a hotel worker enforces the "no guests after 10pm" policy. Just as Marnie is considering staying for the final leg, she discovers that Michael is meeting with his estranged wife Natasha, to whom he admits he is still attached. Heartbroken, Marnie returns home to London, while Natasha is revealed to be pregnant by her new partner.

Months later, Michael arranges a school trip to London where he and Marnie reunite in Hyde Park. He apologizes, professes his feelings for her, and invites her to complete the unfinished coast-to-coast walk with him. They kiss, and Marnie agrees to consider his proposal.

Themes
You Are Here explores themes of love, loneliness, and second chances in middle age. The novel deals with the complexities of modern love and the challenges of finding connection in an increasingly isolated world. Nicholls delves into the lives of two characters who have been bruised by past relationships and are struggling to re-engage with the world around them, examining the ways in which people can become trapped in their own solitude and the courage it takes to break free from those patterns. The novel also touches on the theme of redemption, as the protagonists, Marnie and Michael, embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth.

Background
Nicholls considers You Are Here the best thing he has written, "a love story in a classic style, a chamber piece that happens to take place on an epic journey from the west to east coast". The novel continues Nicholls' exploration of themes surrounding love and relationships that he has pursued across his work, including his successful third novel One Day. Nicholls described his novels as covering "love and the experience of love, and what it's to like fall in and out of love between the ages of 16 and 58" – with protagonists ranging from Douglas at 58 at the end of his fourth novel Us, to Charlie at 16 at the start of his fifth novel Sweet Sorrow. With You Are Here, Nicholls said "I wanted to write about the bit in the middle."

Nicholls revealed that You Are Here arose indirectly from the experience of the COVID-19 lockdowns, and a self-conscious re-engagement with social interaction afterwards, saying "I wanted to write a love story about loneliness... A little bit wary and nervous about the whole business of human interaction, as if it was a skill that I'd forgotten."

The novel is set along the roughly 190 mi coast-to-coast route in England that the characters traverse, a path devised by Alfred Wainwright in the early 1970s as his preferred east-west route across northern England. Nicholls himself walked the route, taking photographs and using his experiences to inform the story's setting and pacing. He structured the novel's story beats around key locations and experiences from his own multi-day trek. However, he has warned readers trying to visit locations in the novel, stating that many places mentioned are fictional.

Nicholls aimed to balance the melancholy and introspection of the characters' journeys with humor and a sense of hopefulness. He wanted readers to find the novel "properly laugh out loud funny" while also resonating with the characters' experiences and emotions.

Reception
You Are Here received positive reviews from critics. The novel was described as "a well-mapped romance" by Lucy Atkins in The Guardian, who appreciated Nicholls's talent for making "unpromising characters appealing" and his "extraordinary ability to capture the absurdity of modern life in pithy textural details". Alex Preston, also writing for The Guardian, called the novel "a great comic novel" and "superb on the landscape", praising Nicholls's ability to make the reader invest in the "unspectacular, everyday, cagoule-clad romance". Paul Rudnick of The New York Times described Nicholls' dialogue as "flawless", calling the novel "sharp-tongued and irresistible, the most intelligent treat".

However, Claire Allfree of The Telegraph gave the novel a more critical review, describing it as "far too contrived to be satisfying" and suggesting that Nicholls was "much too firmly in his [comfort zone]". Adrienne Wyper of The Week praised the novel's "witty conversation, weather, overnight stops, mild drunken escapades and tugged heartstrings", but noted that it generally "move[d] along with an air of inevitability".

Johanna Thomas-Corr of The Times described You Are Here as "One Day for midlife romantics", praising Nicholls's ability to find the "sweet spot between pathos and bathos" and his "exquisite descriptions of longing". Erica Wagner of the Financial Times called Nicholls "a master of his particular craft", describing the novel as one that "will make you feel terrific".

Allan Massie of The Scotsman described You Are Here as "an intelligent, sympathetic, amusing and humane novel", praising its "ordinariness" and Nicholls's ability to write "of recognizable people and his characters are all individuals rather than types". Neil Armstrong of the BBC noted that the novel "contains all the elements that have become [Nicholls's] trademark: comedy, piercing social observation, more cultural references than Taylor Swift and, of course, romance".

Adaptations
Nicholls indicated there have been discussions about adapting You Are Here for the screen, though he could not provide any specific details. He noted some of the challenges in translating the novel's internal perspectives and atmospheric English weather to a visual medium.