Our Holiday by Louise Candlish - Review

This is one of those books where nearly everyone in it is a terrible person. I actually don't mind that, because it means that the reader doesn't care enough about anyone, so anyone can be the suspect. But that made it hard to be sympathetic towards anyone, too. 

It's a couple of weeks since I read this book as I'm writing this and I think I've forgotten who everyone is, annoyingly, so let's see what I can dredge up... 

The book is set near Poole, in a village which has a lot of second home owners. Two of them are Charlotte and Perry and their son Benedict, who are from London and who have a shit ton of money. They tend to go to Pine Ridge for the entirety of August. This year Benedict is off at uni, leaving the nest a little bit empty. But he is coming for the summer in Dorset and bringing his girlfriend Tabitha. Charlotte is nervous to meet her, but looking forward to it too. 

Charlotte and Perry's friends, Amy and Lucas, have also bought a second home on the same street. It is much smaller and less grand than Charlotte and Perry's house, and it needs a lot of work, which Amy is going to oversee. Their children are Beattie, who is seventeen, and Huck, who is about fifteen I think? His French exchange partner Julien is also coming for part of the summer. 

Then there are the locals. They aren't happy that so many people from outside of the town have bought second homes there which means that the locals can't afford to rent there anymore and are stuck living in caravans and on people's sofas. They have formed a pressure group, headed by the charismatic Robbie, who is often on the local news talking about the issue. He has a girlfriend and his best friend is Tate, who works at a bar on the beach. They all live in caravans on the local holiday park. Tate's girlfriend Ellie works at the local spa hotel. They need the tourists around even though they have problems with them. 

Right at the beginning of the book Robbie is at the festival that is held at the end of the summer when he notices something happening on the cliff top. Something is sliding... into the sea. The book then goes back in time to show the build up to festival day and everything that happens before the building slides off the cliff. 

Charlotte's house has a summer house that is her pride and joy, so she's a bit piqued when Amy gets one for her house too. Beattie starts to sleep in theirs. Beattie starts a fling with Tate, and she also has a lot of secrets that she is trying to uncover. I didn't think this subplot was dealt with properly, actually. Charlotte and Amy are both yummy mummies who need to get lives and better things to worry about, I think. Benedict and Tabitha are portrayed as clueless Gen Zs who are so 'woke' and who are constantly trying to rile up their boomer/Gen X parents. Perry has a very big secret which is why he keeps on disappearing back to London. He's also an alcoholic. He is thoroughly unlikeable. 

I did have a lot of sympathy for the locals who just want safe, secure housing, and I think this is very realistic and I liked the way it was portrayed. I didn't care about who lived and died, though, which I find annoying. I'm giving this three out of five.