The Vacationers

by Emma Straub

Book Overview

"Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author."--People (four stars)

An irresistible, deftly observed novel from the New York Times-bestselling author of All Adults Here and This Time Tomorrow-- about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family's two-week stay in Mallorca.

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated.

This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594633886
• ISBN13: 9781594633881
• Release Date: June 2015
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

The Vacationers: Simple but Sweet

Well written, but not many surprises. This book follows the lives of each individual on a vacation to Mallorca. The minimal drama could have been taken up a couple levels and drawn out longer with more detail. Overall it felt like a peek into the lives of some mediocrely boring humans.