Summary of The Fortnight in September
Just as they do every year, the Stevens, a middle-class family from a London suburb, set off for their two-week holiday at Bognor Regis, on England’s south coast. Mr Stevens, an accounts clerk, eagerly looks forward to this long-anticipated break. Mrs Stevens is secretly fearful of the sea, but she takes pleasure in her family’s excitement and in the rituals of the trip. After a long train journey, they arrive at their boarding house and slip back into their holiday routines. The three children each follow their own paths: Mary (19) blossoms after meeting a young man she likes; Dick (17) dreams of leaving behind his office job for a more fulfilling future; and little Ernie (10) enjoys the simple pleasures of sea, sand, and sunshine.
Reasons to read The Fortnight in September
“The Fortnight in September” is a delightful, slightly melancholic summer novel that follows the holidays of an ordinary English family in a seaside town in the 1920s. There is no spectacular adventure or sweeping drama, but the novel captures the small pleasures of daily life, the passing of time, and the relationships within the family. “The Fortnight in September” was an unexpected success on its publication, praised by readers and critics. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Kazuo Ishiguro chose it in The Guardian as the book he turned to for inspiration and solace, describing it as “just about the most uplifting, life-affirming novel I can think of right now.” R.C. Sherriff was an English novelist, playwright (best known for “Journey’s End”), and screenwriter, who was long overlooked but has found a new readership in recent years.
Setting: Bognor Regis, West Sussex (England, UK)
Original title: The Fortnight in September
Year of publication: 1931
Nr of pages: 304
