Just One Day – Gayle Forman (2013)

Just One Day by Gayle Forman, published in 2013, is a poignant and introspective contemporary young adult novel. The book follows Allyson Healey, a recent high school graduate, as she embarks on an unexpected and transformative journey through Europe, catalyzed by a spontaneous trip to Paris with a free-spirited Dutch actor. Set against the backdrop of travel and self-discovery, Just One Day explores identity, love, and the courage it takes to live authentically.

Plot Summary

In the haze of a hot August afternoon in Stratford-upon-Avon, Allyson Healey stood at the edge of something she couldn’t quite name. Scheduled to watch Hamlet with her over-supervised tour group, she instead found herself drawn to a different kind of performance – one where Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night unfolded in the open air, alive and unruly. There, she met Willem, a captivating Dutch actor with a crooked smile and the sort of charm that made the world feel malleable. Their meeting was brief, but it stirred something dormant in Allyson, something wild and curious and bold.

The next morning, on the train to London, Allyson saw him again. The coincidence was too precise to be just that. Their easy conversation over mismatched breakfasts was unlike anything she’d experienced – she, cautious and methodical, and he, fluid and impulsive. When she lamented missing Paris on her tour due to a strike, he didn’t sympathize – he offered a solution. Two hours by train, a city waiting just across the Channel. It was an idea so outrageous it felt like a dare.

And she said yes.

With barely enough time to catch their train, Allyson left behind her suitcase, her friend Melanie, and the identity she’d always worn like a well-fitted coat. She became Lulu – a name borrowed from a silent film star, bestowed by Willem, who saw in her something she had not dared to see in herself. On the Eurostar, as the fields of England blurred past and the train dipped beneath the sea, Allyson imagined Paris as a kaleidoscope of light and motion, a place where anything could happen.

But Paris didn’t begin with the Eiffel Tower or lovers on bridges. It began with a locked baggage counter and a walk to a nightclub, where Willem knew someone who could keep her bag safe. The city unspooled from there – imperfect, sunbaked, full of smoke and motion and graffiti, but pulsing with a kind of poetry that defied translation. They wandered without destination, tracing a spontaneous map through side streets, parks, and cafés, Willem playing guide and mystery all at once.

They rode bikes along the canal. Shared crepes and small truths. Got drenched in an unexpected downpour and bought thrifted clothes to wear as their soaked outfits clung to their skin. Every moment felt like a piece of something bigger – not a plan, but a surrender to the unknown. There was no agenda, only Willem’s gentle insistence that time could be held, if only for one day.

As the sun dipped low over the Seine, they found shelter in a broken-down squat filled with mismatched furniture and the scent of age. It was there that their connection slipped into intimacy – soft, uncertain, and real. For Allyson, it was not just the physical nearness but the act of being seen, of being called into existence as someone freer than she’d believed she could be. For Willem, there was a similar flicker – a ghost of something honest – though he carried secrets she could sense but not name.

In the morning, he was gone.

There was no note, no farewell, just his absence echoing off the bare walls of their borrowed room. Confused and devastated, Allyson wandered Paris searching for him, a girl undone by the very adventure she had once dared to chase. She made her way back to London alone, carrying the weight of a day that had become something sacred and painful.

Back home in the States, Allyson unraveled. The girl who had once followed every rule now found herself floundering in her first year of college, disoriented by the life she’d always assumed she wanted. She drifted from Melanie, her oldest friend, whose world of parties and new connections suddenly felt hollow. She dropped classes, changed majors, lost interest in everything except the language course she took on a whim – French.

The idea of Willem haunted her, not only because he disappeared, but because he had awakened a version of herself she feared she’d imagined. So she began to search. She combed through memories, photographs, train receipts. Piece by piece, she reconstructed their day in Paris, hunting for clues like breadcrumbs. She emailed the theater company, tried tracing his name online. All led to dead ends.

But she kept learning, kept changing. She moved into a dorm with strangers, worked a part-time job, made mistakes, and slowly, deliberately, rebuilt herself into someone with purpose. And when the semester ended, she bought a plane ticket. This time, she would go back not as Lulu, not as Allyson-who-followed-the-rules, but as someone in between – someone real.

She retraced their path through Paris, her French hesitant but improving, her resolve steady. At the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, she found his name scribbled in a visitor’s journal – proof that he had been real. And then, she learned he was in Utrecht, back in the Netherlands, performing again.

She traveled there with nothing but hope and a memory. In a quiet corner of a museum, she found him – not on stage, not in a whirlwind, but sitting quietly, sketching. And when he saw her, he smiled – not with surprise, but with recognition. As if he’d been waiting.

This time, there were no performances, no borrowed names, no masks. Just Allyson and Willem, face to face, with the space of a year between them and the possibility of something more ahead.

Main Characters

• Allyson Healey – Initially a rule-following, obedient daughter, Allyson is cautious and grounded, shaped by years of academic pressure and parental expectations. Her internal struggle between being the “good girl” and seeking authenticity propels the novel’s emotional core. Through the course of one day in Paris and the year that follows, Allyson undergoes a profound transformation as she seeks her own voice, adopting the alter ego “Lulu” to test the boundaries of her self-image and desires.

• Willem De Ruiter – A charming, enigmatic Dutch actor who performs guerrilla Shakespeare in the streets of Europe. Willem lives with an effortless spontaneity and philosophical ease that initially confounds Allyson but ultimately challenges her worldview. He becomes the catalyst for her journey, and his own layers unfold as Allyson seeks to understand who he truly is beyond the fleeting day they shared.

• Melanie – Allyson’s best friend and a foil to her restrained nature. Melanie is outgoing, stylish, and often impulsive. Though their friendship is initially portrayed as tight-knit, the journey highlights the growing rift between them, especially as Allyson begins to change.

• Ms. Foley – The well-meaning but rigid chaperone of the Teen Tours! group. Her character represents the world of structure and supervision that Allyson is beginning to break away from.

Theme

• Identity and Transformation – Central to the novel is Allyson’s search for identity. Her adoption of “Lulu” allows her to explore a freer, bolder version of herself, leading to a deeper understanding of who she wants to be. This theme is delicately interwoven with questions of societal roles and personal expectations.

• Chance and Choice – The narrative hinges on a single impulsive decision that dramatically alters Allyson’s life. The tension between fate and free will, and how small choices can reverberate through time, underscores the novel’s structure and emotional impact.

• Love and Ephemerality – The romantic arc with Willem explores how love can be fleeting yet powerful. Their one day together shapes Allyson’s trajectory in unexpected ways, and the ambiguity of their connection prompts reflection on how deeply brief encounters can affect us.

• Travel as Liberation and Discovery – Europe becomes a metaphorical and literal space for Allyson’s liberation. The cities, trains, and languages serve as both obstacles and opportunities, pushing her to discover independence and resilience.

• Performance and Reality – Echoing Shakespearean motifs, the novel frequently blurs the lines between acting and being. Willem’s life in theater and Allyson’s transformation into Lulu evoke questions of authenticity and whether identity is performed or inherent.

Writing Style and Tone

Gayle Forman employs a first-person narrative that captures Allyson’s voice with remarkable intimacy and sensitivity. Her style is vivid and emotionally resonant, marked by internal monologue, cinematic pacing, and deeply observational prose. Forman’s storytelling blends lyrical introspection with the immediacy of lived experience, allowing the reader to journey alongside Allyson in real time.

The tone shifts fluidly throughout the novel – from the light, flirtatious banter of the early chapters to the aching uncertainty and quiet introspection that follows. This emotional dynamism mirrors Allyson’s psychological evolution. Forman’s language is accessible yet poetic, and she balances humor, romance, and existential searching with grace. The consistent literary references, especially to Shakespeare, enrich the text with thematic depth and a sense of intertextual dialogue.