[Source: CNN Entertainment] Sometimes, it’s easier to be alone. At least that’s what Marnie and Michael, the main characters in David Nicholls’ new novel have thought for years — until their mutual friend Cleo organizes a multi-day group hike across the English countryside. is, at its heart, a witty look at connections, missed opportunities, and the choices we make.

That’s not too surprising coming from Nicholls, whose 2009 novel explored many of the same themes. It reached the top of the New York Times bestsellers list and was turned into a movie with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess and, more recently, a series on Netflix. In Michael is a 42-year-old geography teacher who lives in the city of York in England’s northeast.

Separated from his wife, and to avoid his empty house, Michael often goes on long walks alone. Marnie, a 38-year-old proofreader and copyeditor, lives in London by herself following her divorce. She laments her lapsed friendships but also relishes canceling plans and spending time alone in her apartment.

She has a routine, after all. When Michael joins Cleo’s group hike, he can’t wait for the others to finish up after a few days as planned, so he can complete the roughly 180-mile, coast-to-coast walk solo. But then he meets Marnie, and the weather takes a turn, and his plans change.

The book was born from a few ideas Nicholls was considering — a melancholy urban love story about loneliness in middle age and how people seem to have withdrawn .