A Novel of a Fortnight in September

Suzanne Gagné: Perhaps an old fashioned novel but well written and enjoyable

Canada on Sep 27, 2023

pale rider: All human life is here - a quiet masterpiece. I loved it and totally recommend it if you like Katherine Mansfield

United Kingdom on Sep 25, 2023

"alexwin1": Die Geschichte spielt vor etwa 100 Jahren und ist das Buch ist ebenso alt. Manche Schreibweisen zeigen das, aber es ist unglaublich interessant die vielen Perspektiven und Personen kennen zu lernen.

Germany on Jul 30, 2023

Kem White: This is a charming, endearing book. An ordinary middle-class English family passes 2 weeks at the shore. They have adventures and romance. Their internal and thoughts and lives are made clear. Sherriff's prose is the thing I found most engaging. It's a straightforward style that also carries much lyrical weight. There's no real violence or confrontations. The emotional highs and lows are muted. But you'll really enjoy this family on their holiday. I give it 4-stars but 4.5-stars is nearer the mark. Recommended.

United States on Mar 02, 2023

Jill C. Stanford: Almost every hour of the fortnight is accounted for in this delightful book drawing you in to the families lives while on their treasured vacation. A must read !

United States on Oct 29, 2022

Graham G Grant: This is a delightful novel from the 1930s - a hit in its day but now not widely known, beyond its cult fanbase. Its author was RC Sherriff, who wrote the play Journey’s End. In the foreword to The Fortnight in September, Sherriff explains that he started to write the novel while holidaying in Bognor — with no great expectation that it would be published. He’s also self-deprecating about his prose style, which he says was relatively simple, with no airs and graces. A bit like the protagonists of this gentle seaside yarn about a London family holidaying in Bognor, as they do every year, in a boarding house called Seaview… There’s really not much more to say about the plot: this is a novel about going on holiday. But that’s part of its greatness. Most of us have been on holiday, and we know about the frustrations and elations, both of which Sherriff captures well. The Stevens clan find rejuvenation and introspection on Bognor sands - a sanctuary from the woes of the workaday world. This is a great holiday read and has stood the test of time because in the past 90 years the basics of going away for a break don’t seem to have changed much. It’s still stressful to the...

United Kingdom on Jul 09, 2022

Constant Reader: My book group chose this book after hearing Kasuo Ishiguro recommend it on NPR. At its bones, it is the story of a family with two young adult children and one younger son going to the seaside for their traditional two-week holiday. The pacing runs from glacial to slow, but it suits this contemplative novel. The characters use this break from routine to reflect, plan, and just generally consider their lives. The book was a bestseller in the 1930’s and it gives a detailed picture of middle-class life at that time in England. The characters are the point of the book. Whenever you think something is about to happen, it doesn’t. There is a melancholy feeling about much of it. It is a portrait of a family that is kind to each other. The writing is excellent. But this was not a book that I could read in bed without instantly falling asleep and many times it felt like I was watching paint dry. It has a short page count, but it is not a book where the pages turn quickly. If you are looking for a lesser-known quiet classic, I much preferred Stoner by John Williams.

United States on May 18, 2022

JKTHO: Getting involved was slow. But the family exchanges & dynamics soon were apparent. You felt as one of the characters -- your part in the family but also your own individuality separate & apart. A close knit family with two older children coming of age. The parents & children individually becoming aware of inevitable changes. All takes place preparing & then engaging in the same wonderful annual vacation by the sea that they all enjoyed together so very much--but inevitable change is recognized & dealt with by each family member individually. Time moves on & nothing can stay the same.

United States on Jan 05, 2022

Amazon Customer: So this has been described as a book about nothing. Well in the end I think it’s a book about being a family and each member of that family weighing the importance of that relationship to themself. It’s cute and well written and there are so many themes they lightly touch upon that I found it delightful!! The sea, class, aging, work, holidays and what that even means to different people, a perfect book to read as summer comes to an end.

United States on Nov 09, 2021

SusannahB: Having looked forward to their two weeks' holiday all year, the Stevens family: Mr Stevens (a solid, dependable office-worker), his wife (a rather timid housewife) and their children: Mary (who works as a seamstress), Dick (who has just been helped into his first job in an office by his father); and ten-year-old Ernie, are all four of them excited at the prospect of fourteen days of sun, sea and sand at Bognor - a place that Mr and Mrs Stevens have visited for the past twenty or so years, always staying at the same guest house. Following Mr Stevens' 'Marching Orders', a routine that lists every job that needs to be undertaken before they leave for their holiday, the Stevens family set everything in place and, before bed, Mr Stevens takes a final tour of his garden whilst Mrs Stevens prepares the flask and the boiled beef for sandwiches in readiness for the morning. Next day, with everything going just as planned, they are soon on their way and, after changing trains and worrying they'll miss their connection at Clapham Junction (they haven't yet in all their twenty years of travelling to Bognor, but you never know), they finally arrive at their destination and their longed-for...

United Kingdom on Sep 21, 2020