Narrators Lydia Leonard and Lee Ingleby capture the wit and wisdom at the heart of the One Day author’s story of a hike in the Lake District

When Marnie and Michael are first thrown together during a hiking trip in the Lake District, sparks do not fly. Michael, a cagoule-clad geography teacher from York, is walking Alfred Wainwright’s famous coast-to-coast route and, at the behest of his friend, Cleo, has agreed to a gang of people joining him for the first leg. A reserved, earnest sort who only seems to come alive when discussing rock formations, Michael is newly separated from his wife, their relationship having faltered following struggles with infertility.

Meanwhile, Cleo’s best friend, Marnie, a copy editor from London, is six years divorced, feeling isolated since her married friends moved out of the city to have children, and has all but resigned herself to staying single. This is despite Cleo nudging her towards the handsome but dim pharmacist Conrad, who turns up for the hike in jeans and trainers.