Page Turners – October 2024 review

In October the Page Turners read ‘Our Holiday‘ by Louise Candlish. This 2024 novel is the author’s seventeenth.

The book is set in a south coast town where the locals are struggling to find affordable accommodation and want to raise awareness of their plight. They have begun a campaign of intimidation and low level criminal damage against the wealthy second-home owners who invade their community each August. The lives of these activists become mixed up with two particular families who are ‘down from London’ and tensions rise within the two families and between them and the local community, with dramatic consequences.

Most of us enjoyed this book. We liked the way the story was told from the point of view of multiple characters of different generations. We felt it was well written as it drew us in and kept us engaged. However, this was despite us not feeling we wanted to relate to any of the characters. We found all were flawed and most were not likeable and we were disturbed by many questionable choices. We were not comfortable by the sense of entitlement that many of the characters displayed and not convinced that anyone got the ending that they deserved.

The book brought up issues surrounding the lack of affordable properties to buy and rent, second home ownership and the rise in properties being used for holiday lets, as well as the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers which are, of course, all very topical. Our discussion, as always, was wide-ranging.

Some of us have copies of the book so do get in touch if you would like to read this one and we will swap our page turner for one of yours.

Deborah Wallis, Convenor