The Vacationers
An absorbing holiday read
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3.7 • 9 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestseller.
'Funny, poignant and beautifully observed' – Jojo Moyes, bestselling author of Me Before You
Two weeks in a remote island villa with America's most dysfunctional family – what could possibly go wrong?
It was set to be the family vacation of a lifetime.
From Manhattan to Majorca, two weeks in a remote island villa, with the sort of relaxation, culture and cuisine that only Europe can offer. At least, that was Franny's plan. She wasn't counting on the extra baggage . . .
Warm, wry and glowing with life, The Vacationers is a glorious novel of marriage, friendship, secrets, lies – and love.
'Leaves you smiling for days' – Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Post family is going to Mallorca for two weeks of vacation, but for them clouds are forming over the sunlit destination: the tickets were already booked when it came to light that Jim, Post p re, has recently committed transgressions grave enough to get him fired and infuriate Franny, his wife of 35 years. The couple's youngest daughter, Sylvia, has just graduated from high school and her parents are anxious to have one last family holiday before she becomes an adult. Joining them are Sylvia's older brother and his girlfriend, as well as Franny's best friend Charles and his husband. Every couple, and indeed every individual, arrives with a mix of optimism and trepidation, along with a host of uncertainties that, by book's end, are satisfyingly resolved. Straub (Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures) seems to have found her stride. The pacing is quick but satisfying and the characters themselves feel genuinely complex, interesting, and knowable. While the structure of the novel does feel somewhat unoriginal it begins with the airport, ends with the plane home, and the chapters in between are days of the trip Straub uses the simplicity of the organization to her advantage. A pleasant, readable journey.
