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Sweet Sorrow

David Nicholls

3.95 · Rating details · 3,135 ratings · 325 reviews

One life-changing summer
Charlie meets Fran...

In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his father, when surely it should be the other way round, and if he thinks about the future at all, it is with a kind of dread.

Then Fran Fisher bursts into his life and despite himself, ...more

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Paperback, 405 pages

Published July 9th 2019 by Hachette

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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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· 3,135 ratings · 325 reviews

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Jul 10, 2019 Charlotte May marked it as own-tbr

I adored One Day by David Nicholls, can’t wait to see what he does next ...more

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Sep 02, 2019 Peter Boyle rated it really liked it

I remember the last time I bought a David Nicholls novel. I brought Us to the counter and the woman at the till said: "Oh! Do men read him too?" I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Maybe it's down to the fact that One Day, Nicholls' biggest hit, has a sweeping romance at its core and therefore his work is unsuitable for us fellas. I suppose I should have purchased the latest Bear Grylls Survival Guide instead.

Well I'm a David Nicholls fan and I'm not ashamed to admit it. He writes so I remember the last time I bought a David Nicholls novel. I brought Us to the counter and the woman at the till said: "Oh! Do men read him too?" I wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Maybe it's down to the fact that One Day, Nicholls' biggest hit, has a sweeping romance at its core and therefore his work is unsuitable for us fellas. I suppose I should have purchased the latest Bear Grylls Survival Guide instead.

Well I'm a David Nicholls fan and I'm not ashamed to admit it. He writes so perceptively about family and relationships, and his dialogue is always sharp and funny. Sweet Sorrow continues with this winning formula. The story is set in the summer of 1997, in a small Sussex town. School has just finished and sixteen-year-old Charlie Lewis is at a loose end. His parents have recently split up and his Dad is depressed, so he can't bear to spend any time around the house. On a bike ride one afternoon, he stumbles upon an amateur acting troupe who are preparing to stage a production of Romeo and Juliet in a few weeks time. They beg Charlie to join them but he thinks it's just for wimps and nerds (plus he's afraid of being ridiculed by his mates). However, the luminous Fran Fisher catches his eye and he decides to go along for one day just to see if he can ask her out. So begins a unforgettable summer in Charlie's life, one that he will often think about even as he advances into middle age.

Charlie might give the impression that he's carefree, but he's a worrier. He's terrified that he'll come home some evening to find his father passed out on the floor after an overdose, and this broke my heart. He shouldn't have to think about things like that at his age. At least when he's when up to no good with his friends or chasing girls it distracts him for a while. His description of his first kiss made me laugh:

"I had never been more aware that the tongue was a muscle, a powerful skinless muscle like the arm of a starfish, and when my tongue tried to fight back against Sharon’s they had wrestled like drunks trying to squeeze past each other in a corridor."

Charlie had been down in the down in the dumps at the start of the summer, unsure of his future, but the unexpected possibility of a romance with Fran gives him hope, and a completely new outlook on life:

"If I could be with Fran Fisher, if she could somehow accept me and all my past faults, all the squalor and weirdness and worry, then in turn I would become a better version of myself, a version so excellent and exemplary that it was practically new. I had not been the person I wanted to be, but there was no reason why this couldn’t change."

Maybe the story is a bit too familiar for me to give it the full five stars. But you don't really read David Nicholls for the cliffhangers or the surprise twists. You read him for the humour, for the special insight into love and relationships, for the warm glow you feel in the presence of his wonderful characters. I'll be first in line for his next novel and the bookseller can mock me all she wants. ...more

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Jul 27, 2019 Anni rated it it was amazing

'First love is like a stupid pop song that you hear and you think, well this is all I will ever want to listen to, it's got everything. 'Course, we wouldn't put it on now. We're too hard and experienced and sophisticated. But when it comes on the radio, well, it's still a good song."

This author never puts a foot wrong in the 'bittersweet' novel genre, as far as I'm concerned. And here, David Nicholls expertly sidesteps any hint of sickly schmaltz - which is quite a feat when writing about the ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Joachim Stoop rated it really liked it

4,5

Let's talk movies and TV (and food):

Imagine the sitcom Friends was unpopular and quite unknown and you just discovered and binge watched it. Of course you want to convince others to check it out. And now, go back to reality and think about what a major succes it really was and still is, and how no real self respecting TV-expert would name it as his or her all-time favourite show. That's perhaps the only downside of that big a succes. Same counts for some beststelling authors. In my opinion 4,5

Let's talk movies and TV (and food):

Imagine the sitcom Friends was unpopular and quite unknown and you just discovered and binge watched it. Of course you want to convince others to check it out. And now, go back to reality and think about what a major succes it really was and still is, and how no real self respecting TV-expert would name it as his or her all-time favourite show. That's perhaps the only downside of that big a succes. Same counts for some beststelling authors. In my opinion books like A ladder to the sky by John Boyne and One day + this Sweet sorrow by David Nicholls are underrated in the Literature-with-capital-L-booklovers-arty-land. It will sell, big time! But will Sweet sorrow be longlisted, awarded or even praised by the topnotch Goodreads-circle?

'Sweet sorrow' in cinematic terms is mixing Dead poet's society with Boyhood and the Before sunrise-trilogy. While there is enough drama and tragedy going on, there is always soms lightness to it as in these movies. For example the first pages of Sweet sorrow where we join a 16-year old boy at the start of this clearly everlasting summer in a small town announcing a struggle of his longing for lifechanging experiences against infinite boredom, could have been written by Marilynne Robinson or Ann Pratchett (were it not for the fact that Nicholls throws in the YA-wit of a John Green at his best).

But here is the catch: I can imagine readers who dislike the sweetness and the constant quest for puns and tender humor. And I know: reading with a permanent smile or grin can hurt your cheeks after a while. So it's possible others see this as a trap which to avoid. The way the coin flips is difficult to predict. A good example in my case was my adoration for Frederik Bachman's Beartown (1) and my total dislike of his Us against you (Beartown 2). The second being just too sirupy and totally fatiguing in trying too hard to give me goosebumps.

And while Sweet sorrow sometimes felt as if you sit in your living room with an ideal temperature in a perfect sofa with the right amount of sunrays entering while watching a Sundance movie and eating nostalgic candy, it was totally worth the tootache.
But, my highbrow GR-friend, I won't hold it against you if you give it 1 star. ...more

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Mar 28, 2019 Margaret James rated it really liked it

I was sent an advance reading copy of this new book, and I must admit that after loving One Day, then finding Us rather disappointing, I started reading Sweet Sorrow with a feeling of trepidation. But, after a slogging through the first few chapters of set-up, it hooked me, and I was soon going to bed early so I could read more of Charlie Lewis's most engaging story.

Charlie is sixteen, has big problems at home, and is failing at school. One morning he goes out on his bike and encounters a group ...more

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Aug 06, 2019 Rebecca rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: newbury-library, 2019-second-half, reviewed-for-blog

The title is a snippet from Romeo and Juliet, which provides the setup and subject matter for this novel about first love during the golden summer of 1997, when Charlie Lewis and Fran Fisher are 16. Charlie thinks he’s way too cool for the thespians, but if he wants to keep seeing Fran he has to join the Full Fathom Five Theatre Co-operative for the five weeks of rehearsals leading up to performances. Besides, he doesn’t have anything better to do – besides watching his dad get drunk on the The title is a snippet from Romeo and Juliet, which provides the setup and subject matter for this novel about first love during the golden summer of 1997, when Charlie Lewis and Fran Fisher are 16. Charlie thinks he’s way too cool for the thespians, but if he wants to keep seeing Fran he has to join the Full Fathom Five Theatre Co-operative for the five weeks of rehearsals leading up to performances. Besides, he doesn’t have anything better to do – besides watching his dad get drunk on the couch and scamming the petrol station where he works nights, that is. Charlie starts off as the most robotic Benvolio imaginable, but Fran helps bring him up to scratch with her private tutoring (which is literal as well as a euphemism).

Glimpses of the present day are an opportunity for nostalgia and regret, as Charlie/Nicholls coyly insists that first love means nothing: “love is boring. Love is familiar and commonplace for anyone not taking part, and first love is just a gangling, glandular incarnation of the same. … first love wasn’t real love anyway, just a fraught and feverish, juvenile imitation of it.” I enjoyed the teenage boy perspective (Charlie makes a good narrator) and the theatre company shenanigans well enough, but was bored with the endless back story about Charlie’s family: his father’s record shops went bankrupt; his mother left him for another golf club colleague and took his sister; he and his depressed father are slobby roommates subsisting on takeaways and booze; blah blah blah.

It’s possible that had I read or seen R&J more recently, I would have spotted some clever parallels. Honestly? I’d cut 100+ pages (it should really be closer to 300 pages than 400) and repackage this as YA fiction. If you’re looking for lite summer fare reminiscent of Rachel Joyce and, yes, One Day, this will slip down easily, but I feel like I need to get better about curating my library stack and weeding out new releases that will be readable but forgettable. I really liked Us, which explains why I was willing to take another chance on Nicholls.

Note: There is a pretty bad anachronism here: a reference to watching The Matrix, which wasn’t released until 1999 (p. 113, “Cinnamon” chapter). Also a reference to Hobby Lobby, which as far as I know doesn’t exist in the UK (it’s Hobbycraft here) (p. 205, “Masks” chapter). Perhaps they jumped the gun in getting this ready for its U.S. release?

Favorite summery passage: “This summer’s a bastard, isn’t it? Sun comes out, sky’s blue if you’re lucky and suddenly there are all these preconceived ideas of what you should be doing, lying on a beach or jumping off a rope swing into the river or having a picnic with all your amazing mates, sitting on a blanket in a meadow and eating strawberries and laughing in that mad way, like in the adverts. It’s never like that, it’s just six weeks of feeling like you’re in the wrong place ... and you’re missing out. That’s why summer’s so sad – because you’re meant to be so happy. Personally, I can’t wait to get my tights back on, turn the central heating up. At least in winter you’re allowed to be miserable” (Fran) ...more

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Aug 10, 2019 Andrea rated it liked it

Shelves: city-library, fiction-foreign-locale

A good book, but not up there with my favourites from this author.

Charlie Lewis has just finished his high school exams. He knows he hasn't done well, but he doesn't entirely blame it on his parents for separating during his exam prep... With a long, aimless summer stretched in front of him, and wanting to be out of the house, away from his depressed, unemployed dad, Charlie spends his days cycling the countryside and reading through his father's collection of books. It's while he's laying in a ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com

Having eagerly anticipated the new novel by one of my favourite authors, David Nicholls, I hoped Sweet Sorrow would live up to the excellent standard of his previous novels. I'm glad to say it does; it's a beautifully written book that takes us through 16 year old Charlie's summer as he waits for his GCSE results. So in the sense of the characters in this book, it's obvious that they are very different to those in his previous novels, but no less likable.

For ...more

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Aug 10, 2019 Gumble's Yard rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019

The book starts in 1997, on 16 year old Charlie Lewis’s last day at his Surrey/Sussex border town comprehensive school. Charlie is a largely invisible student – tagging along with a gang of three other boys who are the classroom clowns. His anger at his Mother leaving him with his father and at the lethargy and depression of the latter, already struggling from the collapse of the family record shop chain and his earlier saxophone player career – was played out in a complete failure to study for The book starts in 1997, on 16 year old Charlie Lewis’s last day at his Surrey/Sussex border town comprehensive school. Charlie is a largely invisible student – tagging along with a gang of three other boys who are the classroom clowns. His anger at his Mother leaving him with his father and at the lethargy and depression of the latter, already struggling from the collapse of the family record shop chain and his earlier saxophone player career – was played out in a complete failure to study for his GCSEs. As a result while others plan careers or college – he faces the Summer (and the future behind it) with a quiet dread – taking a casual job at a petrol station where he starts a low level fraud on scratch cards (which offer cash or cheap glassware prizes).

Early in the Summer holidays a girl Fran Fisher literally runs into him. She attends a local arty/hippy school which his school regularly fights (and defeats). He is immediately attracted to her but to his horror finds that she (together with 3 children from his own school’s drama society with which he would never normally mix) is involved in the Full Fathom Five Theatre Co-Operative Society which based at a local large house plan to put on a show of Romeo and Juliet with local students (boosted by some Am-Dram players), building up to the play via a series of Theatre Play and Improv Sessions.

Fran hints she will consider a date with him if he joins the players – initially to play Sampson but then asked to cover Mercutio. Fran (playing Juliet) is a natural actor, Charlie is not – but via Fran’s coaching, by seeing over time how Shakespeare’s words seem to capture his own emotions as he and Fran embark on a tentative relationship, and by discovering a sense of community among the players despite his clear differences to them, he gradually works his way into the play.

The first person book is mainly written in 1997, but also includes modern sections, Charlie about to be married is invited by his best man (themselves one of the Romeo and Juliet cast) to a Full Fathom Five reunion.

Overall a gentle and enjoyable book which is perhaps too slow and too long – interestingly Nicholls had intended originally to make it a novella and while one can imagine his publisher’s horror at that idea (novellas not normally featuring as must-read beach books), it would I think have made a better book.

A clear attempt to return to the romance, youth and nostalgia of One Day (after the more mature “Us”) but perhaps without the same magic (albeit One Day was always going to be very hard to follow).

A book explicitly designed to capture first young love as well as the sense of bewilderment that comes with being 16 and unsure of one’s future and which therefore entirely failed to resonate for me, one of (to use Charlie’s expression) the Book Token kids.

...more

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Sep 12, 2019 ALPHAreader rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am so deeply obsessed with everything that David Nicholls writes, a new book from him is like coming home or catching up with old friends.

All his books are destined to become well-worn copies. His latest is ‘Sweet Sorrow’ and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it. It has the sharp coming-of-age humour from ‘Starter For Ten’, mixed with the heady poignancy of first love that ‘One Day’ gave us - it’s the story of 16-year-old Charlie Lewis who meets Fran Fisher one summer, and will never be the ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 Jess rated it liked it

If you've never read any David Nicholls, this is a great book. Atmospheric, funny, well written, heartwarming, lovely. The problem is that if you've read all his other books, it reads like a David Nicholls Paint-By-Numbers, or whatever the book-version of that would be...

Fran is a great character, but I've come to the sudden, horrid realisation that she's exactly the same as every main female character in every book by David Nicholls. Though his main male characters are marginally more varied, ...more

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Apr 07, 2019 Rosanna Threakall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-releases

One of my all time faves. Unforgettable.

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Jul 10, 2019 Emma (escapetothebookshelf) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Nicholls' writing is really something else, he is an incredible storyteller and this book is a wonderful display of his talent. The story follows a boy named Charlie throughout the summer after leaving school. He has family troubles at home and knows that he flunked his exams, but his summer takes a different turn when he bumps into a girl named Fran Fisher. Fran is part of a group putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet and Charlie ends up involved in the group also, primarily only to get Nicholls' writing is really something else, he is an incredible storyteller and this book is a wonderful display of his talent. The story follows a boy named Charlie throughout the summer after leaving school. He has family troubles at home and knows that he flunked his exams, but his summer takes a different turn when he bumps into a girl named Fran Fisher. Fran is part of a group putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet and Charlie ends up involved in the group also, primarily only to get closer to Fran. It is a story of first love, largely in a romantic sense, but also in relation to family and friendships which adds even more depth to this story.

Firstly, I must emphasise how well this story is written. If you have read anything else by Nicholls you'll know how descriptive and intelligent his writing is, and Sweet Sorrow is no different. He expertly captures the confusing atmosphere of the summer after leaving school and the range of emotions that teenagers go through. The uniqueness of a first love is beautifully portrayed and I particularly liked the ending where we had a glimpse at Charlie's current life, many years on. Nicholls also explores a variety of feelings that teenagers have towards their parents, particularly when parents are having problems of their own. There was a very interesting dynamic of responsibility and care between Charlie and his Dad - I think that this was actually my favourite aspect of the story.

However, for me, I never really had that strong first love feeling when I was younger and so I do find it difficult to relate to stories that have such a focus. I think that this hindered my ability to really connect with Charlie and Fran. I also remember feeling very bored and sometimes quite anxious during summers between school terms. Nicholls' writing was so effective that I felt transported back to those times, but I didn't necessarily enjoy this because of the feelings that I remember. I really must highlight that this is NOT a criticism of the book at all as I recognise that this is wholly reflective of my own experiences, but nonetheless I wanted to express my feelings on the matter as I did often feel troubled reading the book. I should also add that I found the focus on the Shakespeare production a little dull at the beginning, but I gradually became more interested in this as the book went on.

Overall, although it seems that I had many reservations about the book, I did really like it and I would recommend it, particularly if you like a descriptive and emotive kind of story. I know that this will be a popular book with so many people!

Thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. ...more

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Jul 25, 2019 Brendan rated it it was ok

While I was reading this book I kept trying to think of the right adjective for it. Conventional? Bland? Square? Yes, they all fit but don't quite capture the essence I'm searching for. The best I can come up with is 'nice', as used in the negative sense. As in 'too nice'. When you say someone's too nice, you really mean they're boring or irritating in a way that's somehow connected to their niceness. This book is too nice.

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Jul 21, 2019 Jane Gregg rated it it was amazing

I'm going to rave - I LOVED IT. Love David Nicholls. A vintage novel from him that completely captures the outline and the details of its subject. The downside is - a long wait till the next one. But in the meantime. Le sigh. Perfection.

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Sep 15, 2019 Tundra rated it really liked it

3 1/2 stars rounded up because this was such an enjoyable whimsical read about awkward adolescence that was both funny and relatable. The opening scene, at an end of school dance held in the school hall, had me chuckling. I also reminisced about the way we make promises to ourselves about how we will behave ‘if only this doesn’t happen again’ or ‘if only things will stay like this forever’ - like we have absolute control of the events that will happen in our lives.

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Nov 09, 2019 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Set during a long, hot summer, this is the tale of 16-year-old Charlie Lewis - he has just finished his exams and left school but knows his exams have not gone well. This is mainly because he is worried about his father who, having recently lost his record shop business and his wife (Charlie's mother, who has moved on to pastures new), is failing to cope - so Charlie finds himself reluctantly in the role of caring for his father rather than the other way round. Charlie has a dead-end job in a Set during a long, hot summer, this is the tale of 16-year-old Charlie Lewis - he has just finished his exams and left school but knows his exams have not gone well. This is mainly because he is worried about his father who, having recently lost his record shop business and his wife (Charlie's mother, who has moved on to pastures new), is failing to cope - so Charlie finds himself reluctantly in the role of caring for his father rather than the other way round. Charlie has a dead-end job in a petrol station but has been tempted by one of his friends into running a scam involving the scratchcards that should be given out to every customer. Finding himself with little to do or interest him, apart from staying away from home and the worry over his father, Charlie takes long rides on his bike to isolated spots where he can read in peace. Into one of these idyllic locations stumbles Fran Fisher - and Charlie is immediately enchanted by her. So much so that, against his better judgement, he starts to attend the drama group she is with, preparing and rehearsing a performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As the summer progresses, Charlie becomes engrossed in his role in the play and in Fran's life who, surprisingly to him, falls for him too. But love is a fickle thing and Charlie's previous life comes back to haunt him....
This was a wonderfully poignant tale, beautifully told as I have come to expect from this author, and will live long in my memory. It also brought back memories of my own experiences, having started my first job after school but with not much of a social life, being persuaded by two female work colleagues to attend a drama group myself where I fell for one of the other members, even ending up playing opposite her in the lead roles in a version of The Passion Play in just my second production, but without Charlie's success! Really enjoyed the read although I wouldn't say, as one comment on the book cover said, that this was his best yet. A strong 4 star read - 9/10. ...more

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Jul 30, 2019 Lady Drinkwell rated it it was amazing

This was such a great summer read. Lots of fun, atmospheric, some fantastic sentences, laugh out loud funny in parts. A book to read sitting on a beach or on a deckchair in the garden.

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Jul 29, 2019 Ginni rated it really liked it

Shelves: modern-fiction

Great read; evokes all the emotions of first love, but also goes deeper into family life. Actually a very sad story, I found.

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Jul 17, 2019 Laura rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, audio-books, read-2019

From BBC Radio 4:
A decade after the publication of his bestselling novel, One Day, featuring the story of Emma and Dexter, David Nicholls has again created a triumphantly engaging pair of young lovers.

When Charlie Lewis meets Fran Fisher in the summer of 1996, he is at something of a loose end. School is out and so is the sun, but his future is not looking bright. He has been hit hard by his parents' split and is not happy about the role assigned to him by his mother - keeping an eye on his ...more

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Aug 09, 2019 Ophelinha rated it it was amazing

Brilliant read. The agony and ecstasy of first love, the gut-wrenching pain of coming from a split and suffering family. A valediction to the end of adolescence, all nicely packaged in a lot of Shakespeare. Perfect summer read.

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Aug 25, 2019 Hannah Wingfield rated it really liked it

(4 stars, I think - it's complicated)
I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. I LOVED the experience of reading it - it's a long novel and I raced through it, enjoying every page. I loved the atmosphere, the setting of a teenage summer, it made me very nostalgic especially as it's set in the 90s, when I too was a teenager (how was that 20 years ago now?). The love story was sweet, and I liked that the main characters, now in their 30s, were caught up with at the end. I liked the ...more

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Aug 19, 2019 Felicity rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Charlie Lewis is a boy who no one remembers. He hangs around with a group of thuggish boys and conforms to their behaviour but who is he really? But everything changes in the summer of 1997 when he meets Fran Fisher.

I loved this. I had to read it when I heard David Nicholls talk about this a few months ago. Nicholls does a great job of portraying such an awkward protagonist and I really felt for Charlie. The book covers adolescence, mental health and relationships very well. I enjoyed the way ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Shirley Bateman rated it it was amazing

4.5 stars. I’m a big fan of David Nicholls and this didn’t disappoint. I loved it. Tender, beautiful, sweetly funny account of first love. Nicholls’ screenwriting credentials are apparent in the bristling dialogue and the characters are sympathetically drawn, especially Charlie. The book also tackles issues such as acute depression and the often devastating effects of divorce on children. An absolute gem.

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Jul 21, 2019 Clair Sharpe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: hardbacks, male-authors, publisher-promotions, owned-books, 2019

I have a little story to tell about Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls. In June I was having major blogging envy as lots of my blogger friends were receiving proof copies of this book. I’ve read and enjoyed everything David Nicholls has written (my first bookstagram post on Instagram was coincidentally Us which I read in May 2015.) Anyway one night I dreamt that one of these coveted proofs turned up for me and when I woke up the next morning and realised it wasn’t true, I was so disappointed. So I I have a little story to tell about Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls. In June I was having major blogging envy as lots of my blogger friends were receiving proof copies of this book. I’ve read and enjoyed everything David Nicholls has written (my first bookstagram post on Instagram was coincidentally Us which I read in May 2015.) Anyway one night I dreamt that one of these coveted proofs turned up for me and when I woke up the next morning and realised it wasn’t true, I was so disappointed. So I told the world on Twitter how disappointed I was and then David Nicholls himself got in touch to offer me a finished copy. And not only that, but it arrived on my birthday!
So I was a little nervous as I was worried I wouldn’t love it and all that fuss would have been for nothing. But I finished it today and I absolutely adored it!
Set in the mid 1990s in a small and uninteresting town in southeast England, we meet 16 year old Charlie Lewis, on his last day at school. He describes himself as the kind of boy you don’t remember in the school photograph. His exams have gone badly and his parent’s marriage has fallen apart. He is left living with his dad, whom he mostly tries to avoid. He has a group of friends – Harper, Fox and Lloyd who spend their time winding each other up, farting in each others faces and drinking as much as possible.
Once he has finished school, he finds he is at a lost end. He has a part time job in a garage but mostly spends the beginning of the summer riding around on his bike, trying to master the art of being alone without looking lonely. It is on one of these rides that he comes across the Full Fathom Five Theatre Co-operative in the grounds of an old country house where he meets and falls for Fran Fisher. In order to become close to her, he ends up agreeing to take part in their production of Romeo and Juliet and despite having no acting experience or aspirations, he ends up with the part of Benvolio. Keeping his involvement secret from his friends and family, Charlie soon starts to enjoy his involvement as he and Fran become closer.
Told retrospectively from Charlie’s point of view, this was so full of nostalgia for me. I’m probably about 10 years older than Charlie is in this book, but things were pretty similar for me growing up – a time before mobile phones and TV streaming services. Summers that went on forever – that time when I felt grown up and ready for independence.
I adored this book – it was so believable. Funny and poignant, it was just beautifully written and is a true coming-of-age novel. A story of first love and the struggles of family, friendship and growing up when you haven’t decided the path you want to take. I especially loved Fran – she was funny and strong and I found Charlie’s and her relationship really romantic, yet honest. I was truly sorry to see the story end – I can feel a massive book hangover coming on. David Nicholls is a fantastic writer and I urge you to go and buy this book! ...more

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Aug 28, 2019 Helen rated it really liked it

For the first 30 pages or so I thought it was all a bit dull and couldn’t understand all the glowing reviews it had received, then it quickly transformed into a lovely engaging coming of age story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Sep 17, 2019 Ruben Vermeeren rated it it was amazing

This was exactly what I needed after some disappointing Booker longlist reads in which I felt the authors were trying too hard to be innovative or shocking. Sweet Sorrow is not experimental or pretentious. It is a simple, straightforward, nothing-out-of-the-ordinary but still beautiful love story that is a joy to read. David Nicholls is a master of nostalgia, but manages not to become sentimental or overly melancholic. The humour is very good, just as in 'Us', the writing is smart and the plot ...more

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Jul 10, 2019 Becky rated it it was amazing

Going into this review, I might just have to disclaim that I'm a bit biased. I love David Nicholls' writing, having fallen head over feels for US, THE UNDERSTUDY and STARTER FOR TEN. So, when I heard about his new novel, I was so excited – I mean so excited! I was immediately searching out how I could get my hands on the book as I knew I needed to read it.

Hachette Aus and the author were kind enough to feed my hunger with an advance copy and finished edition and all I can say is: Wow! Nicholls, ...more

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May 10, 2019 Ally rated it really liked it

4.5 ’s ...more

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Sep 25, 2019 Aruna rated it really liked it

'This is a love story, though now that it's over, it occurs to me that it's actually four or five, perhaps more: familial love and paternal love; the slow-burning, reviving love of friends; the brief, blinding explosion of first love that can only be looked at directly once it has burnt out.'

Charlie Lewis looks back at his first love, at the age of sixteen. As his family falls apart, Charlie seeks refuge in an unlikely place - a theatre troupe that he joins reluctantly mainly to spend time with ...more

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About David Nicholls

David Nicholls

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David Nicholls is a British author, screenwriter, and actor. A student of Toynbee Comprehensive school and Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, he Graduated from the University of Bristol having studied English Literature and Drama.

After graduation, he won a scholarship to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, before returning to London in 1991 and finally earning an Equity ...more