Holidays are the best time for catching up on reading, whether at your destination, travelling, or waiting for a delayed flight. You need books that are light, impressive, or demanding. The rule is never to be without a book—there is nothing more tragic than scrolling. At least carry a slim paperback for emergencies.
Recommended Titles for Your Holiday Pile
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford (Faber & Faber) is set in London during the Blitz. It combines a wartime adventure, a vivid city under bombardment, a Cruella de Vil-style aristocratic Nazi villainess, and a plot by time-travelling 'magical fascist lunatics' to assassinate Winston Churchill. The author's brio and historical detail carry the reader along.
The Prisoner by Sally Carson, written in 1935 and published in 1936, follows an ordinary family affected by Hitler's rise. Each member is swept along—one goes to the dark side, another is broken, a friend is destroyed. The novel's conviction comes from a writer who was there. It was a warning for its time and remains a cracking read. Available at £16.55.
More Fiction and Non-Fiction Gems
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Penguin) won the Women's Prize for Fiction. It consists of letters from Sibyl, a woman in her seventies, writing to friends, relatives, and famous people like Joan Didion and George Lucas. The letters reveal a writer who is crabby and kind, and serve as a moving reminder of the importance of letters. Priced at £7.99.
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer (Sceptre) is an effervescent account of a hapless American graduate working as an archivist at a Tuscan villa. Through his eyes, we get a joyous, colourful account of the Italian way, with trips to Venice and Florence, delicious artichokes and anchovies, 'lizard green' Fiats, and characters like 'the lady who sits in a chair and yells at cars.' Greer set out to write a charm novel. £16.
Historical Accounts and Epic Reads
Hotel Exile by Jane Rogoyska (Allen Lane), subtitled Paris in the Shadow of War, is about displaced German emigrés in Paris between the wars. It covers the doomed attempt to set up an opposition government, the German occupation, and the return of survivors. The story is told through the prism of the Hotel Lutetia, which went from being Charles de Gaulle's honeymoon hotel to German intelligence base to a centre for survivors. £19.40.
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys (Penguin) is a new edition of perhaps the longest undivided novel in English, at over 1,000 pages. Originally published in 1932, it concerns a family over a year and the mayor's bid to restore Glastonbury as a pilgrimage site. It ends with the town flooding and becoming Avalon again. One for a very long stopover. £17.
Light Reading for the Journey
The Land and its People by David Sedaris (Abacus) is his tenth essay collection, offering the same quirky, deadpan humour. Pieces involve his partner Hugh, his late mother, and encounters with the public. Of a No Kings protest in New Hampshire, he writes that protesters seem to offer 'the worst possible advertisement for the Democratic Party: "Join us! We folk-dance!"' Fans of his Radio 4 series will enjoy. £16.99.
