
The Fortnight in September
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Narrated by:
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Jilly Bond
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By:
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R.C. Sherriff
This charming, timeless classic about a family of five setting out on their annual seaside vacation is “the most uplifting, life-affirming novel I can think of...the beautiful dignity to be found in everyday living has rarely been captured more delicately” (Kazuo Ishiguro).
Meet the Stevens family as they prepare to embark on their yearly holiday to the coast of England. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens first made the trip to Bognor Regis on their honeymoon, and the tradition has continued ever since. They stay in the same guesthouse and follow the same carefully honed schedule - now accompanied by their three children, 20-year-old Mary, 17-year-old Dick, and little brother Ernie.
Arriving in Bognor, they head to Seaview, the guesthouse where they stay every year. It’s a bit shabbier than it once was - the landlord has died and his wife is struggling as the number of guests dwindles every year. But the family finds bliss in booking a slightly bigger cabana, with a balcony, and in their rediscovery of the familiar places they visit every year.
Mr. Stevens goes on his annual walk across the downs, reflecting on his life, his worries and disappointments, and returns refreshed. Mrs. Stevens treasures an hour spent sitting alone with her medicinal glass of port. Mary has her first small taste of romance. And Dick pulls himself out of the malaise he’s sunk into since graduation, resolving to work towards a new career. The Stevenses savor every moment of their holiday, aware that things may not be the same next year.
Delightfully nostalgic and soothing, The Fortnight in September is an extraordinary novel about ordinary people enjoying life’s simple pleasures.
©1931 R.C. Sherriff. Copyright renewed ©1959 The Estate of R.C. Sherriff. Originally published in Great Britain in 1931 by Victor Gollancz. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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I kept wondering the year. The father was annoyingly meticulous in his planning. The mother was distressingly timid. I kept wanting her to speak up or show some gumption. Their behavior was puzzling. and annoying. The children were bland.. I tried to imagine their clothing but couldn't since I didn't know the time period.
After I finished I looked up the author and decided the time would have been in the late 1920s. Knowing that would have made the novel more enjoyable.
Published in 1931
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We all have a Bognor in some form that's special to us. My family has been visiting Chincoteague Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia every summer since I was small and we all love the various rituals and traditions that come with that vacation. From driving across the rural background of Eastern Shore Maryland to long days biking or feasting on seafood, the days spent on vacation bring some refreshment back after a long year of work or school. And though my family doesn't have a single place for our memories (the places we've stayed at have changed over the years), the place we've been staying at the last few years and the one from my earliest childhood ring a lot of Seaview.
I liked everyone in this book from nervous Mrs. Stevens to shy and uncertain Mary. Probably, Dick Stevens was the most interesting to me. I can sympathize with (truthfully, I think most of us can too) being disappointed by adult life and not knowing how to make ourselves happy. That he decides to try seeing his current job as a stepping stone to something better is very mature of him, as well as deciding that though his old school wasn't "smart" it's worth being proud about and encouraging others to be too. I only hope that he did manage to become the architect he decided he wanted to be and did well in his profession.
I listened to his book about two months before our annual beach vacation and can say happily it's nostalgic in a simple sort of way. It really reminded me of E. B. White's Essay "Once More to the Lake" which also similarly discourses how experiences of the past and present intersect when it comes to beloved places. This book would be the perfect one to listen to on or up to your vacation this summer and hopefully you enjoy it (and your vacation) as much as the Stevens do!
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