I've been a fan of Mollie Panter-Downes' writing for a long time and I think that she has a wonderful turn of phrase and a very clever eye for noting the details of life in the UK during and after WW2, however as a rule I prefer her non fiction articles to her fiction and this is no exception.
The little vignettes about all of the characters and events are wonderful but I am less convinced by them held together in a novel

One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes is a quiet, contemplative book set during a single summer’s day in 1946. With the war over, the village of Wealding is adjusting to peace, though the scars of conflict linger. The Marshalls – Laura, Stephen and their daughter Victoria – must navigate a world that feels altered, its certainties faded.

As Laura moves through her day, she reflects on the loss and resilience that have shaped both her marriage and the country. The house and garden mirror this post-war fragility, resistant to control yet full of life. The lark's song, rising in the brilliant morning air, sets the tone for a story that captures the beauty of the ordinary and the depth within quiet moments.

This is a tender and richly observed book, filled with subtle emotion and vivid detail. Panter-Downes writes with grace and restraint, giving voice to the unspoken ache of change and the hope that persists through it. One Fine Day is an intimate portrait of domestic life and the search for meaning after upheaval.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Isn't it amazing how some writers just have that ability to make the normal so captivating! This was a wonderful treat of a read, perfect for a sunny afternoon - my only complaint is that I wanted it to go on!!

This is a acutely captured piece of work that centres around a community, and a family, coming to terms with life post war - all that they knew has changed and their perspectives on life have been altered by the events of the previous years. But life is going on, so the realities of life are back in focus and the author has such a wonderful eye for detail that you're transported back in time, watching on as day to day life plays out around you.

Laura and Stephen are at the heart of the story, and we follow Laura around for a day watching her faced with the tasks that are beginning to overwhelm. Her interactions with the locals shed more light on the goings on of the village and how people have changed

The author has made a very ordinary day, quite extraordinary!

This is a stunningly beautiful, meandering novel first published in 1947, which follows a day in the life of Laura Marshall, a woman whose husband has recently returned from war.

Narrated mainly from Laura’s perspective, the novel shines a soft lens on life in 1946. There is very little plot, save for the fact that Laura has to retrieve her dog from the gypsy in the woods, but this just adds to the gentle delight of the book. The descriptions of village life and the surrounding countryside are stunningly detailed, but rather than weigh down the book, they evoke a sense of place or a forgotten memory, like a summer’s day from childhood which stretches on forever.

Through Laura’s eyes, we see the upheavals of war which still remain - food shortages, barbed wire, signposts without signs, and a bombed cottage, and how some husbands have returned from the war, yet many have not. Through her humorous struggles with domesticity, she also highlights the growing wave of change in class structure and societal division – young people now have job prospects outside the homes of the upper and middle classes. Gone are the days of cooks, maids and gardeners.

Although the characterisation is not particularly in-depth, I love the insight we get into Laura’s meandering mind. Forever being distracted, her mind wanders off mid-conversation to old boyfriends, conversations with her judgemental mother, or days spent with her daughter during the war which were tinged with unease. Although prone to self-doubt, Laura has a dry sense of humour, her observations about her neighbours are very funny, often verging on a little cruel at times, yet she also recognises that handsome young men now regard her as little more than a “sofa” – comfortable, welcoming, and grey.

This is the sort of book you will read, re-read and love, whether for the descriptions of the English countryside in the summer, or for Laura’s quiet observations of life and human behaviour. And then you will press a copy into the hands of someone else, knowing that they, too, will be left with a sense of peace and tranquillity after reading it.

Thank you #NetGalley and @LittleBrownBookGroup_UK for the e-ARC.

A beautifully written, rather contemplative story.

It takes place over the course of one day, shortly after the end of WW2. We mainly follow Laura, as she struggles to maintain a crumbling house, and a garden that resembles a jungle, in the absence of servants, who are almost impossible to find. She has the help of an ancient gardener, and a lady who comes in to char in the morning, but feels that it's all too much. We also hear briefly from her husband Stephan and daughter Victoria.
There is a strong sense of the changing times. The people who would have been servants are moving on to better places, opportunities are opening up for them, leaving those who would have expected to have help to fend for themselves.

Still a favourite.

*Many thanks to Netgally and First I for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.*

wow. what read. lets not be glib here. this a talent if ever there was one. because to write a book of just one single day, a whole book? that there is a feat. so if you can bring it together like Mollie does then wow,that sure is talent.
this book had me thinking all the way through. i couldnt stop. everything this family went through i went through with them. not just with them but imagining myself in this situation too. what would i do? how would me and my family be. for this is post war living. just. and so things have changed massively. nothing will ever be the same and some things shouldnt. things that happened will never be the same and some things definitely shouldnt.
we are captured into the lives of one family and their community and village. just one day as we watch them go about there business. but it feels like im doing a disservice to keep saying its just one day. because in this Mollie manages to show us so much of what this family and those around them are going through right now.
there must have been so much to contend with post war. so much has changed but equally for things you go back to how can they ever look the same? how can woman be doing their home chores and not building ammunition or working the fields. should they just slip back into the home is this right to make them do so. or do we just want to move back into roles we once cherished to get the peace back? is that even wanted or possible? how can there be so many people leaving. what is rationing now? what about our children. what about the landscapes with the barbed wire still lingering. and the emotional toil that it has had on the household and wider. how do you go through the motions. and of course those home from fighting. the navigating of grief and traumas. this book shows the light and shade in such well handled balance.
this book got my a little choked at times. we dont often hear about the "after" or not in the same detail.
i love books like this. that dont need a wallop of a plot. but they are because they dont if that makes sense. they are just a beautiful book,a writing of such topics written with such skill that it makes the story of one day,one normal day for a family feel epic all on its own.

One fine day told the story of a marriage, changed forever by war… Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC, in exchange for an honest review. Quite the ride! Very cinematic in scope and very much remembered. I’ll be recommending to friends and family.