DAVID Nicholls’ first novel Starter for Ten, about a quiz-mad student who makes it on to the college’s University Challenge team, sold very well, and was then made into a well-received movie starring James McAvoy.

Then the author hit difficult second novel syndrome with The Understudy, which focuses on some of the least glamorous aspects of life as a low-rent thespian in London’s West End.

I enjoyed The Understudy but I could see why it failed to capture the mass market in the same way as Starter for Ten, and the author must have taken stock too, because One Day is his best novel yet.

At first glance, the premise seems ingenious, and highly original, but after a while I started to wonder if the author would be able to carry off this rather tricky conceit.

On July 15, 1988, about the same time that I reluctantly left Bangor University, Emma and Dexter meet in Edinburgh on the night of their graduation.

The following day, they go their separate ways, but the desire to finish what they started lingers on and they stay in touch over the years. Nicholls gives the modern romantic novel a makeover by revisiting the couple every St Swithin’s Day until 2007.

For some authors this structure would become a very uncomfortable straitjacket, but Nicholls sticks to the system and manages to make it work.

As the chapters progress, the snapshots in time quickly illustrate how the two main characters have developed over the years.

The author captures extremely well the gung-ho attitude to life of the just-graduated, and then shows how that confidence can drain away when the grown-up world reveals just how few options they really do have.

Despite Dexter’s arrogance – and many other failings – Nicholls ensure that he remains a sympathetic character, and the blokes reading One Day will surely end up rooting for him.

Half-way through this original yet somewhat nostalgic novel I was rooting for Dexter and Emma to be back together by the end of the story.

Nicholls keeps the pages turning, despite the rather random St Swithin’s Day sequencing and I was left wondering how the author can possibly top this memorable achievement.

Nicholls is clearly an inventive writer who is reaching the peak of his game, and I’m now looking forward to his next novel.