Summary of Holiday
Following the death of his baby son and the breakdown of his marriage, Edwin Fisher, a middle-aged teacher, takes a week’s holiday at a seaside resort on England’s east coast—where he spent his childhood vacations—to make sense of his past and clear his head. As he reflects on his youth and failed marriage, the last person he expects – or wants – to encounter is his father-in-law, who is determined to reconcile the estranged couple.
Reasons to read Holiday
“Holiday”, winner of the 1974 Booker Prize (shared with Nadine Gordimer’s “The Conservationist”), is an introspective novel shaped more by memory and regret than by plot. Stanley Middleton, a chronicler of ordinary life in provincial England, was renowned for his portrayals of domestic tension and moral reflection. He wrote more than forty novels, including “Holiday”, “Harris’ Requiem” and “Valley of Decision”.
Setting: England (UK)
The fictional English east-coast resort of Bealthorpe in “Holiday” is likely inspired by Skegness or Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire.
Original title: Holiday
Year of publication: 1974
Nr of pages: 256
