The Vacationers

Emma Straub (Get this book)
Straub refreshes a conventional plot through droll humor and depth of character. By now, the premise is so familiar it seems like such a novel could write itself, but it wouldn't write itself nearly as engagingly as Straub has. Starting with the somewhat generic title, she has all the predictable elements in place: family and close friends gathering at an exotic remove from their daily lives, reveal secrets (and articulate unacknowledged truths), learn how well they know each other and how well they don't, discover which relationships will endure--even strengthen--and which will dissolve. A novel that is both a lot of fun to read and has plenty of insight into the marital bond and the human condition. --Kirkus