by David Lodge
First published 2011
Bernard Walsh studies theology without believing in God. He makes his living thinking about heaven while doubting it exists. When his father Jack needs to visit his dying sister in Hawaii, Bernard agrees to make the trip together. The two men have never been close. Jack has spent decades estranged from his sister, and now faces losing his last chance at reconciliation. Their Hawaiian hotel fills with honeymooners who fight constantly, tourists chasing fantasies, and a manipulative anthropologist. The tropical setting promises paradise but delivers complications. Jack ends up hospitalized after an accident, leaving Bernard alone among strangers. The island feels more like punishment than reward. Bernard expects nothing good from this forced vacation. Then he meets someone who changes everything. For the first time in years, Bernard discovers something he had stopped believing in. Love arrives when he least expects it.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Hawaii
Period: 20th-century
304 pages · Paperback · Vintage Books