Four perfect strangers. Three days. Can one weekend away change your life? The unputdownable new drama by one of Australia’s most beloved storytellers, Fiona Palmer.
Coming together for a writing workshop with bestselling author Jan Goldstein, four strangers converge upon a luxury forest retreat. But along with their notepads and laptops, each of the participants has brought some emotional baggage.
Beth is a solo parent and busy career woman haunted by a tragic car accident. Simone, the youngest at twenty-six, is a successful Instagram star but she’s hiding behind a facade. Jamie is the only man. He’s a handsome personal trainer – but he looks out of place with a pen in his hand. Finally, Alice is a wife and mum recovering from post-natal depression. She and Jamie soon realise they are not such perfect strangers after all.
Only one thing is for sure: on this creative getaway, nothing will go according to script.
Bestselling Australian author Fiona Palmer has done it again with her latest novel The Long Weekend – it’s a compelling contemporary page-turner that is sure to delight fans of Liane Moriarty and Rachael Johns. While she began her prolific writing career writing rural romance, Palmer’s most recent novels, including Tiny White Lies and Secrets Between Friends have been riveting domestic dramas, and she undoubtedly excels in this genre.
The Long Weekend is set on a private writer’s retreat in the stunning coastal region of south-west WA. After reading the first chapter, I was ready to book my next holiday there! Living in rural WA herself, Palmer clearly knows this region well, and this gorgeous setting makes the perfect backdrop for the romance, secrets and intrigue that follows.
The novel moves between the narration of Beth, Simone, Jamie and Alice, as they get to know one another over the long weekend. Some chapters also flash back to their past experiences, which helps to flesh out their characters and their reasons for partaking in the retreat. Over the course of the novel, their secrets, shames and desires become clear, and their entanglement with one another makes for some juicy reading. Ultimately, their brief encounters over one weekend prove far more impactful than any would have expected.
Budding writers or anyone who has ever flirted with the idea of attending a writer’s workshop will absolutely devour this book. It’s an entertaining read, yet it isn’t light and fluffy. Palmer’s well-crafted plot and characters will have you tearing through this compelling summer read.
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