The Ending Of One Day, The Book By David Nicholls, Is Devastating

Netflix’s new series One Day follows a friends-to-lovers couple, Emma and Dexter, over nearly two decades together — their slow-burn romance told through vignettes of their lives on the same day every year. If it sounds familiar, it might be because Anne Hathaway starred in the film version in 2011. But both works are based on David Nicholls’ 2009 novel of the same name, and it’s a ride.

The limited series, which dropped on Feb. 8, dedicates an episode to each year of Emma and Dexter’s love story. It’s a natural format for One Day’s unique narrative structure, Nicholls told Entertainment Weekly. “Between making the movie and making this version, it's almost as if this new medium was invented,” he said. “Streaming TV is much more analogous to the experience [of] reading a novel than a movie.”

Can’t wait to find out what happens? Here’s a handy guide to the One Day book ending and plot summary as you watch along.

Their Postgrad Friendship

On July 15, 1988, Emma and Dexter hook up for the first time after graduating from college in Edinburgh, Scotland. They share their fears about growing up — she wants to change the world, and he just wants to have a cool, glamorous life.

They don’t date, but they develop a close friendship. Emma tries to be a playwright and finds work at a restaurant in London, while Dexter travels the world. The pair exchange letters, and Dexter once writes to confess his feelings for her and invite her to join him abroad. However, that fateful letter gets lost before he can send it.

But they stay close, even going on a trip to Greece where they’re both internally pining for each other — but try not to break the “rules” of their friendship.

Things Get Complicated

Over time, Emma and Dexter’s relationship goes through ups and downs. While Dexter finds success in TV hosting, he struggles with substance use when his mom becomes ill and passes away. Emma starts working as a teacher and dates a comedian named Ian, which frustrates Dexter since that limits her time and attention to him.

Things reach a boiling point at a catch-up dinner in 1995, where Dexter’s mean behavior proves to Emma how much he’s changed for the worse.

They stop being friends for a time. Emma breaks up with Ian and has a brief affair with her school headmaster, while Dexter begins a relationship with a woman named Sylvie. Emma and Dexter ultimately patch things up at a mutual friend’s wedding, where Dexter reveals that he’s getting married and having a child. His daughter, Jasmine, is born in early 2000.

Finally Together, But...

Dexter and Sylvie’s relationship falls apart when she has an affair, and he and Emma sleep together one evening. She later says she was simply a “shoulder to cry on,” and it didn’t mean anything more than that.

Still, when Emma travels to Paris to work on her next book, Dexter visits and makes her rethink her new French boyfriend. Finally, the two decide to start a real relationship together.

With Emma’s help, Dexter opens a cafe back in London. They get married and raise Jasmine together, co-parenting with Sylvie and trying for a baby themselves.

On July 15, 2004, Emma bikes to meet Dexter at a house they’re considering buying. But on the way there, she is hit by a car and dies.

Dexter goes through a rough period after Emma dies and resumes his substance use. But with his dad’s and Sylvie’s help, he can process the trauma. He starts dating Maddy, his manager from the cafe, and eventually takes Jasmine to climb Arthur’s Seat in Scotland like he once did with Emma. The book ends with a flashback to their first day together, when they said “goodbye” for the summer.