cover image Mr. Lynch’s Holiday

Mr. Lynch’s Holiday

Catherine O’Flynn. Holt, $26 (272p) ISBN 978-0-8050-9181-6

Eamonn Lynch is recently separated from his longtime girlfriend Laura and is living alone in the couple’s rundown condo in the ramshackle real-estate development of Lomaverde, Spain. About the last person he expects to see there is his father, Dermot, who’s on a fortnight’s holiday from Birmingham, England. Dermot, hoping for a change of scene following his wife’s death and his recent retirement from his job as a bus driver, finds himself drawn to the dilapidated area, which reminds him of the Ireland of his childhood. Much to Eamonn’s discomfort, Dermot is embraced by the other Lomaverde residents, British expatriates who feel trapped and resentful over being stuck with worthless property following Spain’s economic downturn. O’Flynn (What Was Lost) skillfully balances absurdity with pathos, both in Eamonn’s particular situation and in that of Lomaverde itself. Lomaverde, which one character calls “a place where you can admit to mistakes—you have no choice but to,” offers father and son the chance to repair themselves, if not their surroundings. Like her characters, O’Flynn has an eye for the beauty to be found amid squalor and chaos. Agent: Lucy Luck, Lucy Luck Associates. (Oct.)