This book deals with a number of very topical issues including tensions between locals and second homers and between baby boomers and millennials in an.entertaining way which I felt held my interest. The characters are well-drawn with flaws equally shared so.there are no obvious "goodies" and "baddies", there.is a good sense.of location and the story moves at a good pace. I really enjoyed it

Two families, friends in London, have holiday properties on the south coast. Charlotte and Perry have been coming for years but this is the first summer season for Amy and Linus as they have just bought a bungalow two doors down.

There are tensions, however, between the second homers and the locals, who are finding themselves priced out of the local housing market.

I found this quite slow to begin with and it took me a while to work out who all the characters were but once the story got going, I couldn’t put it down. All the characters have secrets to hide, which makes for lots of twists and turns. Some were more likeable than others, but there was a certain reality to all of them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me so much of the Welsh activists many years ago, when the English bought holiday homes in Wales, brought back a memory or two.
It took me a bit of time to get into the story as needed to work out which family was who etc. Once I’d got that sorted in my head the story took hold and what a brilliant story it is. I loved how each character had a back story that wove its way through the holiday which, in turn made this a page turning thriller that kept me guessing till the end. I loved the contrast between the locals and the holiday homers, and a great twist with the summer house. Louise is certainly the queen of thriller writing. I’ll certainly be recommending this to others.,

I've got family from the Dorset area and this book felt like I could be reading about them! I've read all of Louise Candlish previous books and this one didn't disappoint me. Highly recommended.

Louise Candlish is 100% on form with this novel! 'Our holiday' is a fantastically gripping work of modern fiction that sees multiple fantastic storylines combine in the unlikeliest of places!

The story is based around 2 families, friends from London, who spend their August holidaying in their 2nd homes in a coastal town in the south of England. Among the local residents are a pressure group the NJFA (Not just for August), locals who have been priced out of the property market by Londoners with second homes. Between tattoos, teenage trysts and mid-life crisis, this book has it all going on! SUCH a gripping story, I particularly loved the storyline around teenage daughter Beattie, which really had me guessing!

Well written, interesting characters and undoubtedly a story worth telling, there is nothing not to love about this book! Highly recommended!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

Louise Candlish has been a writer for 20 years but never fails to surprise with how many genres she can handle with consummate skill. This time it's a satire with a lot of humour. The very topical story is about locals in a gorgeous seaside resort protesting about second home owners and "DFLs" (down from London), who typically occupy their holiday homes for one month a year.

I found the communication gaps between the young people, teens and parents hilarious. There are several laugh out loud moments. But it's also a serious issue with seaside towns all over the UK suffering from chronic housing shortages for the workers who provide all the graft for the second home owners.

The plot revolves around an act of criminal damage that has tragic consequences. The sub plots include a teenager who buys luxury clothes with a gym scam, a recovering alcoholic who's in a secret gay relationship, and the charismatic leader of the local protest group.

A very enjoyable read with Candlish effortlessly crossing the generation divide in a way that most authors would find impossible.

I do like Louise Candlish's books, but this took me a while to get into - there were a lot of characters, and I kept getting their names mixed up. It's a promising setup, though - the escalating tensions in a south coast seaside town between wealthy second home owners (known locally as DFLs - Down From London) and local people who can't afford any homes at all, let alone second ones.

The action revolves around two of the "DFL" families - Charlotte and Perry, Amy and Linus - with assorted children and friends, along with local activist Robbie and his friend Tate. Over the summer relationships and allegiances form, shift and break, secrets have fqr-reaching consequences , and ultimately it will all end in death - but whose?

Louise Candlish has a sharp eye for contemporary issues and tensions - crystallised here in the entertaining conflicts between student Tabitha and her boyfriend's father, Perry. Money and class are pervasive themes too, not to mention the differing attitudes to the local housing of migrants.

An engaging read as always.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

I so enjoyed this, like all of Louise Candlishs' books, there is that wonderful mix of brilliantly drawn characters and tension that means you don't want to put it down. I adored it - a brilliant summer read. When they say gripping and twisty, they mean it, a great read - one to pack for your holiday!

I wanted to preface by saying that I love Louise Candlish and this is a rare occasion that I'm marking one of her books so low. Whilst I thought Our Holiday had a great premise, for me this was too long a read, wasn't well paced and had an average ending - sorry!
2 stars.

Louise Candlish is the mistress of contemporary London domestic noir – and this, her latest release, cements this reputation, even if the plot in this novel unfolds not in the capital city to the rocky Cornish coastline. It is here that two professional couples – Charlotte and Perry, as well as Amy and Linus – are among the privileged few who have managed to buy holiday homes in a wealthy enclave of second home owners. With local residents struggling to get onto the property ladder and becoming increasingly dissatisfied at the summer influx into their picturesque village, it is only a matter of time until tensions erupt. As usual, I was drawn into the multiple threads of this novel very quickly, and keen to see how developments for these two couples, their children, and the local pressure group led by charismatic villager Robbie plays out. At times I did think that Candlish had packaged up too many contemporary clichés for us here – the ‘woke’ but innocent university student, the shoplifting teenager, the blasé French exchange student, the middle-aged cyclist and many more jostle for position here – but overall, this was a compelling yarn, well executed, that showcases modern concerns well. I wish to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the free ARC gifted to me in exchange for this unbiased review.

Took me a while to get into this book and was definitely slow for me unfortunately.

Overall I did enjoy it, not all the characters though unfortunately.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this ARC which I did enjoy mostly.

I really enjoyed this book.

Affluent people buy second/holiday homes in Pine Ridge, whereas those born and raised there can’t afford to and so they protest when the rich arrive for summer.

This was such a good read, from a few viewpoints and there wasn’t a moment to be bored.

Maybe a slower burn than people enjoy but it felt really engrossing.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Louise Candlish books have generally been a miss for me, and unfortunately, this one was too. For some reason, I find her writing tedious and crammed full of useless information and people. It's hard to connect with the plot and the characters, when there are too many to follow and you don't really know what was going on. The premise of the book did draw me in, but it was too slow of a 'burn' for me. I needed a lot more to keep me engaged.

This is a slow burn thriller with lots of characters to keep things interesting. A very nuanced central debate surrounding second-home ownership and a thread of menace woven through but the action really started to kick in at about the half way point.

Great for anyone looking for a different kind of thriller but was just a tad too slow for me.

I'm a huge fan of this author and Those People is one of my favourite thrillers of the past few years. Unfortunately I found it much harder to connect to the characters in this one. Not because they're all unlikeable – Candlish's stock trade is producing characters you won't want to root for! – but because they lacked the nuance and richness of her previous ones. Too many of them felt one-dimensional and cliched. The plot itself held my attention and once again Candlish has identified an issue readers can wholly relate to – trying to find somewhere affordable to live. This time she focuses on out-of-towners, specifically Londoners, buying up holiday homes on the coast, who then find themselves targeted by locals forced out of the houses they've lived in for years. The plot is satisfyingly twisty and gripping but, ultimately, the novel left me feeling a little flat. The lack of rounded characters was too distracting and for that reason I'm giving it 3.5 stars.

Another brilliant read from Louise! Having enjoyed some of her previous books 8 was delighted to be approved to read Our Holiday.

Two couples who vaguely know each other in London have holiday homes in Cornwall on the same estate, Amy and Linus arrive for the summer with their two children whilst Perry and Charlotte are there with their son. Amy is determined to make her home as incredible as Charlotte’s and to get to know them better over the summer.

Some local people are not as delighted to see the second homers arrive and are members of pressure groups to show the incomers just how unwelcome they are.

By the bank holiday weekend, lives on both sides will have changed forever……

Where to begin...
I have a mixed relationship with this authors work some I have been up all night reading others have taken a lifetime to get though.
From the books I've read I found some amazing that stay with you for ages and others that left me the instant I have finished.
My ratings of from what I have read previously are as follows:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- These People
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- The Swimming Pool
⭐️⭐️- The Heights
⭐️⭐️⭐️- Our House
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-The Skylight
⭐️⭐️⭐️- The Only Suspect
⭐️⭐️- The Other Passenger

What keeps requesting and reading her works despite this mixed bag is the fact even in the not so good novels the author manages to always give multi layered twists and turns while examining and highlighting the issues in a modern day society. She expertly presents the class divide using extremely complex characters you both dislike but root for. She always takes a news worthy topical issue and intertwines within the novels with style and flair.

I was delighted to be given this DRC to review...spoiler alert I've already pre ordered a print copy...THIS IS 5⭐️ probably the writers best!!!!

FROM THE COVER📖

Charlotte and Perry have owned their clifftop holiday home in Pine Ridge for years. They’ve worked hard for it – why shouldn’t they enjoy it? Even if the locals can’t afford to live in the village these days…
Now city friends Amy and Linus have bought a second home nearby and when the two families descend, they plan lazy days at the beach and evenings sipping rosé and watching the sun set from Charlotte’s summerhouse veranda.
But this summer is different. A group of locals – headed by the charismatic Robbie – will stop at nothing to make the second home owners pay for their holiday. By the end of their break, marriages will be torn apart, friendships shattered and crimes exposed.
And one of them will have lost their life.

REVIEW⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From the first chapter I was hooked... told in the first person POV we met "Rockstar Activist" Robbie who is witnessing a house fall of a cliff.

From here we hear from a mixture of characters in the present and past in the 3rd person POV flitting back and forth leading up the opening chapters events,
set over two dual timelines and we learn of a death but are then taken back and drip fed until the story plays out perfectly.

The wonderfully written cast of characters are deeply unlikable however one of the true highlights in the narrative lies in these richly developed characters, each with their own compelling stories.

The characters are a mixed bunch in terms of ages, class and gender all are horrendously awful at first glance but provide a nuanced understanding of the diverse perspectives at play. It for made for a very satisfying read when their misdemeanors caught up on them. There’s a satirical element especially in the acute observations of those at the upper end of the income bracket yet it still manages to pack the necessary punch and make the point very clear . There is some excellent dialogue that keeps reinforcing this at times the characters seems extreme versions of the people the author is portraying but this for added a real dark humour, I found this has been the case in all her works, she writes people like people we all know and does so with a true eye for self awareness. The strong thread of dark humour throughout which I would describe it as a satire on the class system in the UK. This is expertly shown in her characters. As the narrative unfolds through multiple points of view, we can see the divides clearly in the way the characters react so differently from each other when faced with the same situation. The divide is clear not only in terms of class but in as intergenerational ones and in various other relationships. These become strained and there are intriguing dynamics throughout the main plot and sub plots. The sub plot regarding Bettie and her clothes was one of my favourites and highlighted the points and themes of the main plot beautifully.


The very much topical news worthy setting of second home owners out pricing the locals in the many of our seaside towns is bang on trend for so many issues and makes for interesting thoughtful reading.

I found the plot fantastic and so smartly written.

It adopts a deliberate, slow-burning pace, gradually unravelling the intricacies of the characters and their lives, there is a sense of anxiety and trepidation overhanging all and an on edge sensation. Situations escalate, there are double lives being lived, examples of hypocrisy and the tensions evident from the start, begin to escalate with altercations which spiral out of control. It becomes deliciously devious and dangerous, keeping you reading long into the night. The ending was a perfect match for the themes within the novel.


Taking aside all the deeper meaning points and themes the setting of English summer time is captured perfectly making it not only a pieces of brilliantly written satire with thrilling elements but also perfect for escaping.

Our holiday is the perfect holiday read

Without doubt the authors best to date.

Our Holiday is a slow burner that revolves around two couples who own holiday homes in Dorset and the group of locals, who resent them, having been pushed out of the housing market…. Sadly, something I can relate to living in a seaside resort! Their idyllic August holiday very quickly turns into a nightmare. A good read but not one that would make my top10 of the year.

I love Louise Candlish and I think she is criminally underrated. I know it is all about opinions but there are so many more 'acclaimed' authors who seem to get more publicity and kudos and I can't understand why.

In Our Holiday, we meet two couples, Amy and Linus, and Charlotte and Perry. The book is set over the month of August when the two couples are living in their second homes much to anger of local residents who dislike the impact of second homes on their local community housing.

Like much of Candlish's work, it is set over two dual timelines and we learn of a death but are then taken back and drip fed until the story plays out perfectly.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest