The Fortnight in September by R. C. Sherriff was first published in September 1931. It was glowingly reviewed: ‘A lovely novel,’ declared the Daily Telegraph, ‘a little masterpiece’ wrote the Sunday Express.
As R. C. Sherriff described this novel in his memoir No Leading Lady, ‘The story was a simple one: a small suburban family on their annual fortnight’s holiday at Bognor: man and wife, a grown-up daughter working for a dressmaker, a son just started in a London office, and a younger boy still at school. It was a day-by-day account of their holiday from their last evening at home until the day they packed their bags for their return; how they came out of their shabby boarding house every morning and went down to the sea; how the father found hope for the future in his brief freedom from his humdrum work; how the children found romance and adventure; how the mother, scared of the sea, tried to make the others think she was enjoying it.’
‘Nothing since Dickens has come closer to giving between covers the intrinsic spirit of England.’ Saturday Review of Literature
‘There is more simple human goodness and understanding in this book than in anything I have read for years’ Spectator
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