From Good Reads:
HOLIDAY
I have only recently finished reading this book. I heard about on a blog post on Booker Talk some time ago. (Read her review here.) I remember the review appealed to me so I ordered a copy from Abe Books.
From Good Reads description:
Edwin Fisher is on holiday at the English seaside – but this revisiting of childhood haunts is no ordinary holiday. Edwin is seeking to understand the failure of his marriage to Meg, but it turns out that her parents are staying at the same resort – whether by accident or design – and are keen to patch up the relationship. As the past and his enigmatic wife loom larger, deeper truths emerge and the perspective shifts in unexpected ways. This is an extremely subtle story, a consummate portrait of English provincial life told with all Stanley Middleton’s artistry and depth of feeling. It was joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974. Review quotation: “At first glance, or even at second, Stanley Middleton’s world is easily recognisable…The excellence of art, for Middleton, is an exact vision of real things as they are. And because he is himself so exact an observer, his world at third glance can seem strange and disturbing or newly and brilliantly lit with colour.” (A.S. Byatt).
(From web page Brief Biographies).
The author, Stanley Middleton was British born in 1919 and died in 2009. He attended schools in Nottingham, England. He had a military career during the second World War serving in the Royal Artillery and Army Education Corps.
He wrote many short stories and novels with characters mainly being drawn from the middle classes. He enjoyed studying people whose lives had stopped in a middle of a crisis and analysed how they dealt with it.
He wrote about the complexity of the human characters and this comes through in this book. He didn’t believe novels needed to be intense stories but but he certainly created obstacles in the way of his characters. He then devised ways of getting through the issues he raised.
I have only read this one book by him but would not hesitate to look at others he wrote.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. I thought it was excellent. There were many times when I felt I was standing beside Edwin as he walked the beaches and chatted to the locals.
The story takes place over one week’s time but it seems a much longer period of time. The story goes back and forth from his early marriage days to current days as the protagonist is struggling with a current separation and ‘where to’ from here.
The characters are not always likeable, especially his wife. I just didn’t see what he saw in her but then as the reading continues the reader understands a physical attraction to her and hope for future changes. Relationships are definitely not straight forward and this book is an excellent example of that.
The interference of his in-laws is aggravating too but many of us married people can understand this happens. Sometimes trying to sort out marriage issues is impossible to do by oneself.
I kept reading because I really wanted to know if all of the issues were going to be resolved satisfactorily. Nothing in this book is tied up neatly.
If a you enjoy a leisurely read where the characters breathe onto the page and you care about them then this book is for you.
This book shared the Booker Prize along with The Conservationist, by Nadine Gordimer in 1974. 
I have a lot of catching up to do here. Thanks for being so patient. Last time I stopped by here I was preparing for the Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. I was supposed to work four days but only managed three days. It was full on and hot and my old body needed a day of rest. We walked more than 10 km per day with our cameras. When my body talks….I listen. I will put up some photos on a Wordless Wednesday post or a Thursday Travels.
The weekend after the Wooden Boats we had the Kempton Festival for the day. It was stinking hot that day and little shade. The country town of Kempton opens their doors for garage sales and a big festival full of locals and animals. It was fun. I think that might be another Wednesday or Thursday post of photos. I won’t dwell on the six dogs I made the owner pull out of their car in the terrible heat. When will people learn you don’t put kids and pets in cars to wait for you in the stinking heat while going of to enjoy yourself.
Book One- The Arsonist by well recognised author, Chloe Hooper, b. 1973 from Melbourne Australia. This book is Australian non fiction about the Black Saturday fires in the state of Victoria in 2009. There were 173 fatalities and many properties lost. The story is a journalistic investigation of the fire and what caused it? Who caused it? I won’t give much more information as I don’t want spoilers.
The second book I managed to get through, as it’s a very short book was The Newspaper of Claremont Street by Australian author Elizabeth Jolley. She had an incredibly interesting life and wrote quite a few books.
The third book I just finished for the April Book Club read is The Everlasting Sunday by Robert Lukins. This is his first novel and is being nominated for all kinds of awards. The Good Reads blurb states:
Travellin' Penguin 