Mr. Lynch’s Holiday
Author: Catherine O’Flynn
Soft and beautiful writing backframes Catherine O’Flynn’s sanguine novel
about a father and son who are both lost – and yet define a path to find each other in Mr. Lynch’s Holiday.
Eamonn Lynch’s world skews apart when his wife, Laura, leaves him. Eamonn and Katherine purchased a development home in Spain, Lomaverde, in an isolated but beautiful area by the sea. Along with a group of expats, they live in their badly made homes abandoned by the developers, and most of the development lies empty and half built, deserted except for a few families who cannot sell and cannot leave their investment homes behind. The area attracts burglars and vandalisers, as there is only one person on security, and he is part time.
Dermot Lynch, a retired bus driver, and Eamonn’s father, has never connected with his only child, and when his beloved wife dies he leaves Birmingham to visit Eamonn and Laura for a fortnight. When he arrives, Eamonn admits that his wife has left him.
Dermot is shocked: his only son lies in bed til late morning, the house is filthy and Eamonn’s job as internet tutor is about to go under because Eamonn simply doesn’t care – about anything. Dermot watches as Eamonn falls apart, although Eamonn does make an attempt to introduce Dermot to the “neighbors,” boorish and strange people with a few exceptions. Inga is Swedish and she and Dermot become friends.
As Dermot finds he likes Lomaverde, Eamonn hates that he is too afraid to leave it – Eamonn despises the ghost town atmosphere and shallow neighbors – he needs a city to give him balance. Dermot finally takes the bull by the hand and forces Eamonn to get on with his life, to leave Lomaverde and return to his wife. He gives Eamonn his home in Birmingham and takes on the mortgage of Eamonn’s house in Lomaverde. With a happy ending, this luscious novel treads between the emotions of father and son, isolation, fear and reprisals, and transcends them all.
Perfectly lovely novel, with prose that wafts into the air like the scent of perfume.
Ratings are based on a 5-star scale
Overall: 4.5
Review by Broad “A” – Ava
We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own
Mr. Lynch’s Holiday: A Novel
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