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Meet the Stevens family, as they prepare to embark on their yearly holiday to the coast of England. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens first made the trip to Bognor Regis on their honeymoon, and the tradition has continued ever since. They stay in the same guest house and follow the same carefully honed schedule—now accompanied by their three children, twenty-year-old Mary, seventeen-year-old Dick, and little brother Ernie.
Arriving in Bognor they head to Seaview, the guesthouse where they stay every year. It's a bit shabbier than it once was—the landlord has died and his wife is struggling as the number of guests dwindles every year. But the family finds bliss in booking a slightly bigger cabana, with a balcony, and in their rediscovery of the familiar places they visit every year.
Mr. Stevens goes on his annual walk across the downs, reflecting on his life, his worries and disappointments, and returns refreshed. Mrs. Stevens treasures an hour spent sitting alone with her medicinal glass of port. Mary has her first small taste of romance. And Dick pulls himself out of the malaise he's sunk into since graduation, resolving to work towards a new career. The Stevenses savor every moment of their holiday, aware that things may not be the same next year.
Delightfully nostalgic and soothing, The Fortnight in September is an extraordinary novel about ordinary people enjoying life's simple pleasures.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 7, 2021 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781982185244
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781982185244
- File size: 5405 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from September 1, 2021
Decades after this novel was first published in 1931, Sherriff described it as an "everyday kind of story" about an "ordinary sort of people." But the book is extraordinary. Capturing the passing thoughts and feelings that give texture to daily life, it follows the Stevenses, a working-class family of five, on their annual trip to Bognor, a coastal British town. There is no great drama during their vacation, just the sweetness of the two-week reprieve from work--Mr. Stevens' loosened collar, Mrs. Stevens' evening glass of sherry, son Dick's ruddy glow. Beginning on "Going Away Evening," the book's first third tells of their travel preparation and journey. The pages are full of anticipation. Sherriff aptly stretches this time at the start of the vacation, while the days that follow speed by at a quickened pace. The fading house where the family stays each year launches reflection on the long passage of time through the years. Even as they plan for next year--Mrs. Stevens will buy buns on Sunday, not Saturday; they will again reserve a bathing hut with a balcony--there's a sense that time is ticking on these vacations. It must be savored, and so, too, should this very special book.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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