The Vacationers–Emma Straub

 

Two weeks in a remote island villa with America’s most dysfunctional family – what could possibly go wrong?
The Posts are going on their first family vacation in years, and it’s going to be a special one: Jim and Franny are taking their daughter Sylvia, son Bobby and his girlfriend, and Franny’s best friend Charles and his husband, all the way to Mallorca for two weeks of the sort of relaxation, culture and cuisine that only Europe can offer.
But there are problems. After a transgression with a twenty-three-year-old editorial assistant, Jim has been unceremoniously sacked from his job, and now his and Franny’s marriage is on the rocks. Charles and Lawrence are feeling divided over their future, Bobby is mired in debt problems and stuck in a relationship that’s pulling in opposite directions and his girlfriend Carmen, super-fit personal trainer and, at forty-something, far too old for Bobby, seems to have realized her mistake. As for Sylvia, she’s eighteen, about to go to college, and determined to lose her virginity before she gets there . . .

Firstly I’d like to thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.  This is not the type of book I would normally pick up in a book store or purchase for my kindle but I was amazed by how much I actually enjoyed it. I did find it a bit slow to get into but about a quarter of the way through I started to get hooked on all the different characters and the secrets they were hiding from one another. In saying that I did find Franny slightly irritating but there was enough time in the book spent delving into the lives of the other members of the family that this wasn’t really an issue. I’ve given this 3/5 on Goodreads and will certainly look out for more books by the author.