Sweet Sorrow

David Nicholls — 2019

One life-changing summer Sixteen-year-old Charlie meets Fran... 8 million copies since STARTER FOR TEN first introduced us to his incomparable talent for making us laugh, cry and wince with recognition in the space of a single sentence; ten years after ONE DAY became the iconic love story for a generation; five years since the journey of US took him to the Man Booker Prize long-list; DAVID NICHOLLS has written a major new novel, SWEET SORROW: a hymn to the tragicomedy of ordinary lives, a celebration of the reviving power of friendship and that brief, blinding explosion of first love that perhaps can only be looked at directly once it has burned out. 'Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love' The Times 'There is a sharp empathetic intelligence to his writing that makes his characters real . . . the clear writing often dazzles with truth . . . sad funny, soulful' Observer 'A sublime talent for illuminating the murky causeway that most of us have to navigate between darkness and light' Donal Ryan 'Nicholls' ability to create and then subvert the traditional plot for comedy is the secret of his success. It makes us confront the gap between what we expect from storytelling and what happens in real life' Spectator

Reviews

Andrew@shudder

Feb 25, 2025

Nicholls pulls off a charmer of a Wonder Years story without spilling over into sentimentality.

Kate@arienekatereads

Jan 7, 2024

Bittersweet. I hate this book – IT'S SO GOOD 😭😭😭😭 4.5 stars ⭐️

Cathaysa Ryökäs@catniss

Oct 31, 2022

The majority of the books I read are from a female perspective, and it was really refreshing to get a change to that, especially when I feel that this book gave a pretty realistic picture of a teenage boy mindset. The whole thing with the play gave a little contrast to his everyday life and history, and there were many of the head characters thoughts I feel many young people, male and female, might be able to relate to. This was not my favorite book, but definitely had a good time reading it!

Maria Davis @mariadaviss

Mar 25, 2022

LOVED. I so far haven’t found a single book by David Nichols that I haven’t enjoyed and this was no exception . I can’t understand how he manages to take any characters under any circumstances and make them seem so relatable and real. A wonderful book about first love and nostalgia, that is true to its name the full way through.

Joanna Rosenwink @adventuresinabookshop

Aug 18, 2021

We join Charlie during the summer of 1997 as he completes his GCSEs (the same year I completed mine so the nostalgia was palpable). The sweetness of falling in love for the first time is juxtaposed with the complexity of his relationship with a troubled father. Mental health issues are sensitivity dealt with in this bitter sweet coming of age novel. A lovely summer read with great depth, Nicholls does what he does best, exploring relationships between believable and very human characters.