Holiday (novel)

{{infobox book |

| name = Holiday

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image = image:Holiday (Stanley Middleton).jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = Stanley Middleton

| illustrator =

| cover_artist =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| series =

| genre =

| publisher = Hutchinson

| release_date = 1974

| english_release_date =

| media_type = Print (hardback & paperback)

| pages = 239

| isbn = 0-09-119910-7

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}

Holiday is a novel by English writer Stanley Middleton published in 1974 by Hutchinson. The novel along with Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist jointly won the Booker Prize in 1974.{{Cite web |title=The Booker Prize 1974 {{!}} The Booker Prizes |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/1974 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=thebookerprizes.com |language=en}}

Plot

The novel revolves around Edwin Fisher, a lecturer who takes a holiday at a seaside resort. The work takes place entirely within the mind of Fisher, with much of the book's development dealing with the painful realities of his mind and life.

Awards

Holiday shared the 1974 Booker Prize for Fiction with The Conservationist, by Nadine Gordimer.

In 2006, The Times re-submitted the opening chapter of the novel (along with fellow Booker winner In a Free State, by V. S. Naipaul) to 20 literary agents and publishers. Only one agent accepted Holiday, while Naipaul's novel was rejected by every house to which it was sent.

References

Sources

[http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/03/holiday_stanley_middleton.html Review of Holiday from the Booker Blog at The Guardian]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070213175743/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article784051.ece Publishers toss Booker winners into the reject pile]

Category:1974 British novels

Category:Booker Prize–winning works

Category:Hutchinson (publisher) books