A holiday, with its siren’s call of renewal, its graspings at something outside of us, is fertile ground for fiction; a new environment tends to accentuate people’s natures. A vacation in Indonesia was the backdrop to Luke Horton’s compelling debut novel, The Fogging, which traced the slow unravelling of a couple’s relationship. Now, in Time Together, a seemingly relaxing beach trip probes at ageing, parenthood, relationships and grief.
Phil, whose ill mother has recently died, has invited some old friends to stay with him at his parents’ coastal home while his father is away. There’s no-nonsense Jo and her Marxist-reading husband Lucas; the highly strung Bella and her dad-joke-incarnate partner Tim; and the beautiful Annie, recently single after leaving a bad relationship. On the cusp of middle age, these friends have weathered the decades, with their gathering a reunion of sorts: they’ve meant to keep in touch around the bustle of relationships and raising a family – an entourage of young children attend the holiday too – but the years have slipped by.
