The Holiday was published in 2008, as it is set in Corfu I thought it would be the ideal book to take with me on holiday this year. It was really interesting to read her descriptions of the beautiful island of Corfu whilst I was actually there, I actually read the chapter where the lead characters visited the village of Paleokastrista on the same day that I visited there myself!This is typical Erica James, chick-lit done very well, easy to read, great characters (if at times, a little predictable) and an entertaining story line. The lead character Izzy is a teacher and has taken up her friend's invitation to spend the summer with them in their house on Corfu. Izzy is a mixed up character, and needs to make some decisions about her life. Throw in a millionaire, playboy Greek (why do I never met one in Corfu??), a dark and brooding thriller author and the story is set. Sometimes it veers off into the unbelieveable, but on the whole it's a great summer read.
An overall disappointment. I love chick lit, but this one failed to make me giddy and excited for romance like most chick lit does. I feel like James tried entirely too hard to develop the main characters' deep and dark pasts. They didn't seem real at all to me. My other big annoyance was how the first couple hundred pages of 'romance' seemed so disconnected from the last hundred of random 'suspenseful crime mystery'. Where did this come from? While she mentions the stalker early on, and while I'm glad the issue is resolved, the romance and crime plots were not at all well-balanced. I have no issues at all with genres being intertwined, but I would have liked to read more of a connection of the two, rather than focusing on one at a time.
What do You think about The Holiday (1993)?
Whenever I am in need of some comfort, I always return to Erica James. This was the first of her books I read and I have been enchanted ever since. Whilst her characters often, and particularly in this book, have a strong silver lining of not having tense financial challenges (though that is part of the storyline for this book), the emotional journeys she takes them on are so compelling and so in-tune with reality that you can't help but become hooked. Very much a strong recommendation for anyone needing that comfort that only a good book and a duvet or blanket can provide.
—Jennifer
