Review: The Summer Getaway

The Summer Getaway by Tilly Tennant
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 74%.

I tried really hard to finish this book but frankly I found all of the characters to be unsympathetic, verging on dis-likeable.

Sixteen years ago Ashley Moon went on a summer holiday to Ibiza she would never forget, a one-night stand with a boy called Haydon (no surname) left her pregnant with a bogus phone number. For the first time in forever she and her daughter Molly are going abroad on holiday - to France to celebrate Ashley's step-father's mother's 100th birthday (I hope that made sense).

Haydon is a music teacher and divorced with a fourteen year old daughter called Ella. His ex-wife and her new boyfriend are thinking of moving down to London and taking Ella with them so Haydon decides to take advantage of a late offer from a pupil's father and rent a villa in France for a week's holiday with Ella.

Imagine Haydon and Ashley's surprise when they discover that after sixteen years of no contact they are staying next door to each other in France.

So, here I am, 74% of the way through the book, six days into Ashley's holiday and she STILL hasn't told Haydon that Molly is his daughter. Nevertheless the four of them, plus various wider family members, have managed to spend several days together. Ashley has to be one of the most infuriating characters I have ever read. She hasn't seen this guy in sixteen years. They had a one-night stand. She gets jealous if she sees him with another woman. She thinks she can't trust him. So she won't tell him he has a daughter. Her own mother can't understand what is taking so long. Haydon on the other hand is one of those parents who thinks that others need to tip-toe around their precious baby. His daughter gets upset and he thinks it's the fault of the other children instead of the natural outcome when there are two fifteen year olds and a younger child. Goodness only knows why he likes Ashley, she's wetter than a cold weekend in Seattle.

The book was too slow, do we really need 245 pages of Ashley faffing about before she tells Haydon he has another daughter? I suppose realistically I wanted the novel to be about what happens AFTER she breaks the news not this will-she, won't-she wobbling. Maybe I'm too old, I identify more with Ashley's exasperated mother than I do with her?

It's a pity because I've read Tilly Tennant books in the past and really enjoyed them.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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