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“There is who we want to be and there is who we are. As we get older the former gives way to the latter, and maybe this is who I am now, someone better off by themselves. Not happier, but better off. Not an introvert, just an extrovert who had lost the knack.��

Marnie, divorced, and Michael, estranged from his wife, are middle-aged, lonely, and thrown together on a walking holiday. There are a few others along for the hike, but they quickly drop off leaving Marnie and Michael alone. Some entertaining and thoughtful banter ensues between the two. There are reflections on relationships and the ideas and expectations surrounding having children versus not having them.

“No one wants to be defined by the thing you don’t have, whether it’s a kid or a partner, and people are obsessed, especially people in a relationship.��

It’s an old, worn-out question, but I can’t help but ask why people need to get their noses in the business and choices of others? Perhaps it’s preferable to a long, hard look at oneself. Don’t we have bigger issues on the table to deal with these days? Sigh. I guess we’re all experts at something these days. Or judges. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about a quote from one of my favorite books, Fair and Tender Ladies: "I have made my bed and I wish everybody would let me lie in it."

I enjoyed this, my first David Nicholls novel. I’d love to find a sturdy, reliable pair of walking shoes and hit the trails. In fact, doing something like this is on my bucket list. I haven’t formulated exactly where or when, but it’s on the horizon. I like what Michael has to offer the reader about solitude and the outdoors. I’d have to agree. Still, it would be nice to make such a walk with a like-minded individual. I don’t want to be too much inside my own head, after all.

“At home he was merely lonely. Stepping outside transformed loneliness to solitude, a far more dignified state because it was his choice.��

I’m going to look at what else Nicholls has to offer. This was not so light and fluffy that I didn’t have to think at all, but it also didn’t require deep concentration �� something I seem to be lacking these days. I’d recommend it!