Breakaway Books

Authored by David Nicholls; Published April 2024; Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️

I’ve read a lot of books set in England this year, but You Are Here is the first one that made me think that I may not be quite English enough to get it. Granted, that may be because you could argue that the English countryside itself is a character in this book.

You Are Here is the story of Marnie and Michael, who are unexpectedly shoved together for a long walk across the English countryside, after years of solitude. Along the way, they run into charming small towns, horrific weather, and a few new friends. It’s an ordinary enough premise for a romance, but what sets the novel apart is just how real it feels. It is precise in its depiction of the awkwardness of falling in love: the unevenness in their respective progress toward the emotion, all the things that are not said in those initial exchanges, the inevitable miscommunication.

Both Marnie and Michael are normal people. They are not airbrushed. They are flawed, and it’s clear to me that they are not universally lovable people. At the same time, the spark of their relationship feels unique, special—in the way that romantic chemistry can feel like a miracle after years without it. I wish that I could see a little more of their journey together, a few more glimpses into how they progressed, rather than just their awkward beginnings. I’m a sucker for a happy ending.

But among romances, this is low on the list when it comes to books to escape with. The topics they discuss are too real to make it an easy beach read: what does it look like to have a thriving social life as an adult? How do you cope when it is not so thriving? How do you interact with coupled adults if you’re single? What about adults with kids? They cover loneliness, divorce, the choice not to have kids—none of them topics that I would consider to be suitable for escaping present day life.

But, the realism of You Are Here might be what makes it the most hopeful. Two ordinary people finding another slightly weird person they like. If they can do it, so can the rest of us.