One Day in December

One Day in December is a romance novel by Josie Silver, told through the first-person point of view of two characters: Jack O’Mara and Laurie James. The story focuses on specific months in the characters’ lives, providing a circular narrative that encourages the reader to notice how people develop but do not necessarily change over time. A #1 New York Times bestseller, the novel was published in 2018 by Broadway Books of Crown Publishing Group. As of 2020, actress and producer Reese Witherspoon was considering optioning the film rights to the novel, one of her picks for her Reese’s Book Club. One Day in December is Josie Silver’s first novel and has been translated into 25 languages. Silver is also the author of the 2020 novel The Two Lives of Lydia Bird.

Plot Summary

One Day in December follows Laurie James as she makes her way through her twenties in contemporary London. Laurie lives with her best friend, worries about the distance between her and her family, is looking for love, and is trying to leave her temporary hotel receptionist job for her dream job in magazine publishing. One day, Laurie spots a man from inside her city bus. Their eyes meet, and they have an instant connection—love at first sight. The bus drives away, and Laurie spends the greater part of a year obsessed with finding the mystery man. She and her best friend Sarah hunt for him to no avail. One day, Laurie meets him again: Unbeknownst to Sarah, Sarah’s new boyfriend is none other than Jack O’Mara, the man from the bust stop.

Laurie keeps her feelings for Jack a secret, but as the years go by, she develops her own deep friendship with Jack. In one encounter, she alludes to the first time they met, referring to the bus stop; although Jack knows she is the woman from the bus stop, he feigns ignorance, avoiding a moment of recognition. Still, the two wind up kissing. Racked with guilt and in need of a change, Laurie leaves to travel in Thailand, where she meets Oscar, a young banker from London. She and Oscar begin a relationship that continues when the two return to England, and they later get married. Just before the wedding, Laurie admits to Sarah that Jack is the man from the bus stop. Sarah, angry that Laurie has kept the secret all this time, does not come to the wedding. When it is time for speeches, Laurie suddenly realizes that Sarah is not there to give her toast as maid of honor. Jack realizes this, too, and he steps in to deliver a speech and save the moment, leading many to suspect that he has feelings for Laurie.

Jack, now broken up with Sarah, moves to Edinburgh for a job opportunity while Oscar accepts a promotion that keeps him in Brussels three days a week, leaving Laurie, who has yet to repair her relationship with Sarah, alone and isolated. While Sarah and Laurie manage to rebuild their friendship, Laurie and Oscar’s marriage soon fails, and for the first time, both Jack and Laurie are available to start a relationship. In a grand romantic gesture, Laurie calls into the radio station where Jack is a host and reveals her true feelings, and Jack admits for the first time that he has known all along that Laurie was the woman from the bus stop. Laurie travels to Edinburgh, and the two reunite and kiss in a happily-ever-after moment.

One Day in December is a romance, a coming-of-age story, and a contemplation on the role of truth in friendship. It uses Laurie James, a young woman figuring out how to live an adult life in a busy city, to explore bigger issues of truth-telling, identity formation, and the nuances that inform the relationships between people.