How long is it?
240 pages in the Five Leaves Publications 1999 paperback edition.
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 42 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 240 pagesFive Leaves Publications · 1999
- Reading time
- 4 h 45 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Measured
- Emotional intensity
- 4 / 5
About 4 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 10 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
After the death of their young son and the breakdown of his marriage to Meg, Edwin Fisher returns alone to the English seaside resort where he spent childhood holidays. From his boarding house, he observes other holidaymakers and revisits memories of his parents and married life. Meg’s parents are staying nearby, and his father-in-law hopes to bring the couple back together.
Reader notes
Quiet and melancholy, the literary novel follows Edwin’s thoughts through everyday encounters and recollections, allowing the past to interrupt the present. There is little outward action: grief and marital estrangement emerge through conversations, private judgments and the ordinary routines of a seaside holiday.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Direct
- Tone
- Melancholic · Reflective
- Structure
- Nonlinear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships
- Point of view
- Third person, limited
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Family
- Grief
- Guilt
- Marriage
- Memory
Content notes
- Violence
- Mild
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- None
- Substance use
- Mild
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Standing and awards
Highly regarded
- Booker Prize, 1974
Questions readers ask
Which edition is shown here?
Five Leaves Publications · 1999 · Paperback. ISBN 9780907123439.
How long does it take to read Holiday?
About 4 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 240-page Five Leaves Publications edition. Dense books can take longer.
If you liked this
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Five Leaves Publications
- Publication year
- 1999
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 240
- ISBN
- 9780907123439
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1974
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction · Contemporary literary · Psychological fiction
- Editions
- 4
- Languages
- 1 (English)
The catalog does not yet include a matching edition. Details may differ between editions.