About The Holiday
It was supposed to be the perfect holiday, dreamed up by Kate as the ideal way to turn 40: four best friends and their husbands and children in a luxurious villa under the blazing sunshine of Provence.
But there is trouble in paradise. Kate suspects that her husband is having an affair, and that the other woman is one of her best friends.
One of these women is willing to sacrifice years of friendship and destroy her family. But which one? As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined.
Because someone in the villa is prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.
My review of The Holiday
The Holiday is an absolutely brilliant read. That tagline of 'Seven days. Three families. One killer' reeled me right in and I quickly became immersed in the world of these four women and their families. It's a wonderful 'catch your breath' kind of a read, with you never quite knowing who you can trust. Not even until the final few chapters.
It's a fast paced read with short chapters that I just loved, as it pushed me forwards though the story, I had to keep reading. There are so many twists and turns, so many red herrings that I thought I had it all sussed out, only to find that I was competent wrong.
This is a domestic family thriller set in a villa in France. Four women who have been friends since university decide to holiday together to celebrate their upcoming fortieth birthdays. But what unfolds is a tale that is dark, murky and full of secrets.
The story is told mainly from Kate's point of view, but we also get insight into the other characters point of view in the form of chapters that are dedicated to them. Kate suspects from the very first day of the holiday that her husband, Sean; is having an affair. The trouble is that the other woman is one of the three women, and so she keeps quiet and tries to unearth the truth herself. It is the fact that they are all together in this villa in France that gives the story it's undercurrent of foreboading. It is tense and claustrophobic as Kate cannot escape.
Who on earth is the other woman? That's at the heart of this story. But we also have storylines involving the older children, that show that they too are harbouring secrets of their own.
The Holiday is so cleverly written. It pulls you in one direction and then another so that you get whiplash in wondering what on earth is going on. And as for the ending, well, it's both perfect and surprising at the same time.
The Holiday really is a fabulous summer read and you'll never look at your friends in quite the same way again.
With thanks to Readers First for the advanced paperback copy.
The Holiday is published by Zaffre on July 25th.
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