Book Review: 'Singles' Holiday by Elaine Spires
Singles' Holiday
Elaine Spires' second novel was Single's Holiday, set on her beloved Antigua... the Caribbean at its most luscious, its most beautiful... silver sand, cobalt sky, warm, turquoise sea... and a bunch of complete strangers who only have one thing in common: they’re single!
Some are looking for romance and some for something more... but they've all chosen to spend their holiday with people they have never met before. Pretty soon some become great friends, some enemies and some lovers, but it is perhaps their tour leader Eve who has the biggest shock of all.
Glorious days on the beach, boozy, balmy nights and a pending tropical storm combine in a story to make you laugh and cry with just the right number of twists to keep you turning the pages as you get to know all the members of the group as they, in turn, get to know each other.
Guest Post
I asked Elaine, what is what about Antigua that makes her love it so much and choose to base two of her books there. Here is her response.
I first went to Antigua in 2003 when I was working as a tour manager for Solos. I got on very well with hotel management and I started to do all the Antigua trips.
There was just something about the place I loved. I think in a previous life I was an island dweller as I also loved Ibiza and Corfu at first sight.
Also I'm a Piscean and love the beach and water and Antigua has 365 beaches and clean, clear water.
I was spending half my life there and made friends and then bought a plot of land and built my beloved Avocado Cottage.
I was also fascinated by other people's fascination with the Caribbean, especially the older-white-woman-young-black-guy scenario which appears in both Singles' Holiday and Sweet Lady.
If people are willing to relax and let their hair down Antigua offers a holiday that's second to none.
Rum punches, fresh fish, idyllic beaches, glorious sunsets, amazing boat trips, history, friendly people, steel bands and a bit of bump and grind - what more could you ask for?
Singles and Spice (available on Kindle on March 14th, paperback early April)
A singles' holiday to India's Golden Triangle - Taj Mahal, the pink city of Jaipur, tiger-spotting in Ranthambore, the noisy, crowded streets of Delhi - all go to make up a trip that is hot, humid and spicy. Eve Mitchell, Travel Together's tour manager extraordinaire has a couple of familiar faces in her little group of travellers and others that she hasn't met before; sexy man-eating pensioners, a compulsive over-eater, a constant whiner, a cross-dresser, and a man with a personal problem.
And there's a big surprise awaiting someone -and Eve - early one morning. By the end of the tour, which sees our group travelling by coach, rickshaw, train and elephant, she will know rather more about some of their innermost secrets than she'd like. But Eve deals with all the twists and turns the trip throws at her as we try to understand what makes people travel the world with a bunch of complete strangers and tourism's latest success: the phenomenon that is a singles' holiday.
About Elaine
Elaine Spires is a diverse novelist as well as an award-winning playwright and actress.
Extensive travelling and a background in education and tourism perfected Elaine's keen eye for the quirky characteristics of people, captivating the humorous observations she now affectionately shares with the readers of her novels.
She wrote her first book What's Eating Me in 2010. It was originally a play, a one-woman show performed as a monologue with a child actor - Elena-Beth Carter playing Eileen as a child in the background and Elaine performed it on the London and Edinburgh fringes. She loved the character of loved Eileen so much that she decided to expand the story into a book.
Her second novel was Singles' Holiday, set on her beloved Antigua... the Caribbean at its most luscious, its most beautiful... silver sand, cobalt sky, warm, turquoise sea... and a bunch of complete strangers who only have one thing in common: they're single!
And her third novel Sweet Lady, again set in Antigua, will amaze you with a massive twist which goes to show that nothing is as it seems!
When Elaine is not writing her ideas into her next book or play, she enjoys going to the theatre, visiting the cinema, eating out with her friends and she also loves to read! Elaine spends her time between her homes in Hadleigh, Essex and Five Islands, Antigua (W.I.).
Author Links
You can learn more about Elaine at her website www.elainespires.co.uk
You can “like” Elaine’s author page on Facebook www.facebook.com/elaine.spires
You can “follow” Elaine on Twitter www.twitter.com/elainespires
Buy Links
You can buy Singles’ Holiday in paperback via Lulu.com
Kindle Links
You can buy Singles’ Holiday for Kindle via Amazon.co.uk
You can buy Singles’ Holiday for Kindle via Amazon.com
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