London Holiday: A Novel [Paperback]

Richard Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

The perfect beach read and armchair travelogue--a wry, engaging, stylish novel of three women's escape into carefree London.

London Holiday opens in Mrs. Smith-Porter's cozy, prestigious London bed-and-breakfast, where the hotelier curiously awaits her three new American guests...

Best friends since long-ago childhood days, Lesley, a St. Louis society matron and do-gooder, Julia, a successful but lonely Manhattan interior designer, and Margo, a newly-divorced Chicago teacher with a teenage daughter, are all harboring unfulfilled dreams and desperate for a change from their ordinary lives. When a shocking act of violence reminds them how fragile life really is, the three friends decide it's time for a reunion and embark on a long-awaited trip to London.

Safe in the confines of Mrs. Smith-Porter's bed-and-breakfast, the women enter a whirlwind of tea in the garden, antique markets, picture-perfect countryside and ...romance. For each of them, the London holiday holds many surprises and "the epiphanies [they] experience pour over readers with the light, dry sparkle of good champagne" (Publishers Weekly).

**Penguin Readers Guide Bound into Every Book

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In London Holiday, three middle-aged American women take a trip to London that changes their lives. Les, Julia, and Margo grew up together in a small Missouri town and have remained friends ever since childhood. They're all getting older and becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their lives. Les is a restless St. Louis society woman; Julia's a driven, single, interior designer; and Margo is a recently divorced schoolteacher. Les decides they all need to escape their lives for a while and go on an adventure together. It works wonders. On their first day in London, Julia takes off on her own and returns very late with a delightful story to tell: "I was picked up by a strange man in a south London slum who took me to a deserted barn in the country, and then a dying baronet thought I was the Duchess of Windsor." In other words, she went shopping for antiques and met a cute guy who might possibly be royalty. This book seems to be a fantasy specially designed for women of a certain age who particularly enjoy antiquing. The three friends stay in a beautifully decorated bed and breakfast run by a secretive, charming old woman named Mrs. Smith-Porter. Mrs. Smith-Porter has a knack for saying just the right thing to solve a problem then vanishing magically, which is a good thing because these women have plenty of problems. Les is stuck in a loveless marriage; Margo has just learned that her teenage daughter is pregnant and her former husband is gay; Julia is just plain lonely. England and Mrs. Smith-Porter improve these women's lives immeasurably. This is not a very profound book but it is rather fun, a good one to read at the beach. --Jill Marquis

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Three middle-aged American women, childhood friends from Cape Vincent, Mo., travel to London for a vacation in Peck's effervescent fourth adult novel (after This Family of Women). With them, they carry the frustrations of unfulfilled dreams. After Chicago third-grade teacher Margo Skinner Mayhew is wounded in a classroom shooting by a deranged parent, her do-gooder friend, St. Louis society matron Lesley Vogel Hockaday, convinces third musketeer, Manhattan interior designer Julia Englehardt Steadman, that they should give Margo a break from a life that has been burdened by a divorce and a churlish teenage daughter. The three, each having endured disappointment and loveless marriage, find themselves at an extraordinary B&B run by Mrs. Smith-Porter, an intriguing character whose good-natured, no-nonsense British reserve hides a past full of tribulations. Although Margo's selfish daughter has come along as a wet blanket, the three grownups manage to find unexpected and heartwarming romantic adventures, which Peck conveys with stylish brio that eschews clich? and sentimentality. Just as things begin to get interesting for them, Mrs. Smith-Porter is injured in an accident, and the Americans find themselves running the B&B and postponing their flights home. While the opening background chapters tend to lag a bit, Peck, well known for his Blossom Culp series for children, is at the top of his form once the travelers hit London. The epiphanies experienced by the three women pour over readers with the light, dry sparkle of good champagne. Among the highlights: Peck's glimpses of London (well-traveled, off-the-beaten-track and frequented by antique-collectors) and one of the funniest, most appealing love-at-first-sight stories to come along in some time.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140278575
• ISBN-13: 978-0140278576
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries...Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Likeable and entertaining, April 11, 2002

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Holiday: A Novel (Paperback)

I found "London Holiday " to be a light, quick and totally delightful read. Mrs Smith-Porter is a woman who has reinvented herself and has learned by experience, the ins and outs of the antique business.She runs a very up-market Bed and Breakfast establishment in one of the better parts of London.Three old school friends , Julia a very successful interior designer, Les, a St.Louis society matron and Margo, a school teacher, who are all at a crossroad in their lives, decide to holiday together and stay at Mrs. Smith-Porters B.andB. During the holiday,the course of their lives is altered forever in different ways, the catalyst being the enigmatic Mrs.Smith-Porter. This is an absorbing little book which I thoroughly enjoyed and I can't wait to get to a bookstore to find more by this talented author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Funeral, a Gunshot and Three Friends, January 24, 2002

By 

Mamalinde "mamalinde" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: London Holiday: A Novel (Paperback)

This story begins with a funeral, a gunshot and a coming together of old friends now approaching middle age. Three childhood friends are prompted by unusual events to flee familiar grounds and try an over-the-pond holiday at a most unusual bed & breakfast "near the top of the list" - truly in a class by itself. There are really five main stories (three generations) running at the same time, yet they are clearly delineated. Richard Peck seems to really understand the dynamics of women's friendships. The flashbacks to wartime London are fascinating, and obviously well researched. The characters are well developed, from the "seen-it-all" and rather magical Mrs. Smith-Porter (with a slightly shady background behind her upright façade) to the individual charms of Les, Julia & Margo and the utterly-lacking-in-charm Kimberly. The Bed & Breakfast was a thank you from a former lover, and through treasure hunts in the London markets, Ms. Smith Porter has furnished it with lovely, priceless antiques and a certain joie de vivre. Concisely and beautifully written, the story evolves simply through circumstances that are quite amazing. Mr. Peck gives the readers a flavor of London past and present together with glimpses of foolish lives, marriages gone bad, lives gone lonesome -- and then tosses in a bit of enchantment to show how things can fade into adventure and novelty.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful for a beach read, June 11, 2003

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Holiday: A Novel (Paperback)

Three middle-aged women have a holiday in London; they've been friends since sharing a Midwestern childhood and are now all variously dissatisfied with their lives. The bed & breakfast house in which they stay is run by the elusive, charming, and secretive Mrs. Smith-Porter who seems to be a helpful angel of some sort.
Not a deep book, but no one ever said it was; just a thoroughly enjoyable way to pass the day on a screened porch with a fan, a squeaky rocker, and a glass of iced tea.