THE VACATIONERS

RIVERHEAD BOOKS, MAY 2014

NOW IN PAPERBACK

An irresistible, deftly observed novel about the secrets, joys, and jealousies that rise to the surface over the course of an American family’s two-week stay in Mallorca.

For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated.

This is a story of the sides of ourselves that we choose to show and those we try to conceal, of the ways we tear each other down and build each other up again, and the bonds that ultimately hold us together. With wry humor and tremendous heart, Emma Straub delivers a richly satisfying story of a family in the midst of a maelstrom of change, emerging irrevocably altered yet whole.


A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

"Delicious . . . richly riveting . . . The Vacationers offers all the delights of a fluffy, read-it-with-sunglasses-on-the-beach read, made substantial by the exceptional wit, insight, intelligence and talents of its author.”—People (four stars)

“For those unable to jet off to a Spanish island this summer, reading The Vacationers may be the next-best thing. . . . [A] gorgeously written novel  . . . When I turned the last page, I felt as I often do when a vacation is over: grateful for the trip and mourning its end.”
The New York Times Book Review

"Emma Straub’s bustling new novel is about a New York family’s two-week idyll in a house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. It’s also about a different kind of break: infidelity. . . . The story’s women are so well drawn that they seem instantly familiar. . . . Witty."
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“A novel that is both a lot of fun to read and has plenty of insight into the marital bond and the human condition.” 
—Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW) 

“Sharply observed and funny, Straub’s domestic-drama-goes-abroad is a delightful study of the complexities of family and love, and the many distractions from both.” 
—Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)

“The pacing is quick but satisfying and the characters themselves feel genuinely complex, interesting, and knowledgeable...A pleasant, readable journey.” 
—Publishers Weekly

“I would read anything Emma Straub writes. She’s a natural talent and a gorgeous and witty storyteller, who makes each sentence look not only easy, but perfectly real. I came to care so deeply about every single character in this great novel that I found myself unable to go to sleep at night until I was certain they had all landed safely. And they will linger with me, this richly imagined family,
long into the future.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things 

“Witty, big-hearted, and packed with wisdom, this novel is a breezy read that sneaks in its emotional wallops and leaves you smiling for days.”
—Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

“Charming and absorbing, this is a novel that
demands to be read in long, satisfying gulps.”
—Maggie Shipstead, author of Seating Arrangements


"The Vacationers is a beautifully told story that walks the tightrope of family angst and connection with hilarity and truth. Get ready for the Post family drama, where the near empty nest collides with the dreams of the new generation. Emma Straub's writing is deft, clear and wise in ways that will surprise and delight you. It's a beyond the beach read. It's Ms. Straub at her dazzling best."
—Adriana Trigiani, author of The Shoemaker’s Wife