As sappy romantic novels go, David Nicholls’ One Day (2009) is about a one-night sexual encounter that becomes a life-long romantic heartache. Dexter and Emma’s picnic on Arthur’s Seat is never revealed, but we do know what each brings in their rucksacks.
On July 15, 1988, Saint Swithin’s Day, Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley picnic after a night of casual lovemaking. Like many Edinburghians, they head for Arthur’s Seat, the hill from which all of the city is set out against the horizon.
For these new-minted lovers, what they bring to the picnic reveals their profound social differences. Dexter is upper-middle-class and set for a career in broadcasting. Emma is working-class and a socialist out to change the world. Stopping at a supermarket in Nicolson Street, they are “both a little uncomfortable in the domestic rite of sharing a shopping basket, both self-conscious about their choices; were olives too fancy? Was it funny to take Irn-Bru [orange flavored soda], ostentatious to buy champagne? They loaded Emma’s army surplus rucksack with supplies–Emma’s jokey, Dexter’s would-be sophisticated–then doubled back towards Holyrood Park and began the ascent along the base of the escarpment.”
When Emma died in a bicycle accident in 2006, Dexter honors the anniversary of their meeting. On Sunday, July 15, 2007, he returned to Arthur’s Seat for catharsis. This time he’s with his daughter Jasmine, the child of his first marriage, who knows nothing of her father’s romantic past. It’s a mismatch because Dexter gets lost in memory, but his nine-year-old daughter is itchy, “Dad, I’m bored. Can we go now, Please?” Food is not important enough to mention.
Lone Scherfig’s One Day enhances the melodrama but omits the picnic on Arthur’s Seat. Yes, they walk to the crest, but then, overcome with lust, they decide to return to Dexter’s apartment to make love. Ironically, as they run down the hill, Dexter and his daughter are walking up. It another poignant moment (in a film filled with them). There is a beach picnic, but it’s just another set piece in the Dexter-Emma’s courtship.
Featured Image: Arthur’s Seat looking down towards Edinburgh. Lone Scherfig. One Day (2011).
See David Nicholls. One Day. New York: Vintage, 2009. Lone Scherfig’s One Day is discussed on Picnicsonfilm.org
*Though often described as a mountain, Arthur’s Seat is 821 feet high.]