Holiday Country
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Ayse Babahan
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By:
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İnci Atrek
About this listen
A seductive and lyrical debut following a young woman’s dangerous summer romance during an idyllic vacation on the Aegean coast
"A gorgeous exploration."—Raven Leilani, author of Luster
"A book full of pleasures."—Kirkus
Ada adores spending every summer in a Turkish seaside town with her mother and grandmother at the family villa. The glittering waters, endless olive groves, and her spirited friends make it easy to leave her idle life in California behind. But no matter how much Ada feels she belongs to the country where her mother grew up, deep down, her connection to the culture feels as fleeting as the seasons.
When Levent, a mysterious man from her mother’s past, shows up in their town, Ada can’t help but imagine a different future for her mother—one that promises a return to home, to love, to happiness. But while playing matchmaker, Ada has to come to terms with her own intensifying attraction to Levent. Does the future she’s fighting for belong to her mother—or to her alone?
Lush and evocative, İnci Atrek’s Holiday Country is a rapturous meditation about what it means to experience being of two worlds, the limitations and freedom of a life in translation, and the intricacies of a love triangle that stretches across generations and continents.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
©2024 İnci Atrek (P)2024 Macmillan AudioCritic reviews
"Atrek gloriously portrays the seaside setting, and she expertly explores the crackling tension between mother and daughter. This finely rendered debut heralds the arrival of a smart, bold voice."—Publishers Weekly
“İnci Atrek's mesmerizing Holiday Country is sizzling with the heat and hurt of young adulthood, brimming over with all of the associated desires: to explore, to feel seen, to belong, and, of course, the impossible wish to turn back the hands of time. With beautiful prose that transports you to the seaside town along the Aegean Sea where young Ada spends her summers, Atrek fully entangles you into the generation-long drama overdue to unravel. This book is full of wisdom and insights about mothers, daughters, and the men who surround them and it smolders as we watch Ada do the unavoidable: become her own person.”—Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
"A piercing and wise novel, Holiday Country asks vital questions on identity, autonomy, fantasy, and how we may radically reimagine daughterhood and the places we come from. İnci Atrek masterfully threads a needle right through the eye of desire and duty with this spectacular book; you will be equal parts unmoored and moved long after you finish reading."—Mina Seçkin, author of The Four Humors
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Venice, 1717. Fifteen-year-old Luisa has only wanted one thing: to be the best at violin. As a student at the Ospedale della Pietà, she hopes to join the highest ranks of its illustrious girls’ orchestra and become a protégé of the great Antonio Vivaldi. Luisa is good at violin, but she is not the best. She has peers, but she does not have friends. Until Maddalena. After a scandal threatens her noble family’s reputation, Maddalena is sent to the Pietà to preserve her marriage prospects. When she meets Luisa, Maddalena feels the stirrings of a friendship unlike anything she has known.
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meh.
- By Raul A on 08-07-23
By: Julia Fine
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Farther than the Moon
- By: Lindsay Lackey
- Narrated by: Josh Wichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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All thirteen-year-old Houston Stewart has ever wanted is to become an astronaut. His dreams feel like they're finally coming true when he's accepted to the highly-competitive Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program—if only he could bring his little brother, Robbie, with him. Ever since their dad left, Houston and Robbie have been inseparable. It's hard to tell where Houston's love of space ends and where Robbie's begins. But Robbie's cerebral palsy and epilepsy mean he needs medical attention at home, so Houston is forced to take this giant leap for the two of them all on his own.
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An original adventure sure to keep young readers hooked!
- By Abby on 06-27-24
By: Lindsay Lackey
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Sally Brady's Italian Adventure
- A Novel
- By: Christina Lynch
- Narrated by: Elise Roth
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A good deed leaves Sally stranded in wartime Italy, brandishing a biting wit, a fake passport, and an elastic sense of right and wrong. To save her friends and find her way home through a land of besieged castles and villas, Sally must combat tragedy with comedy, tie up pompous bureaucrats in their own red tape, force the cruel to be kind, and unravel the mystery, weight, and meaning of family.
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Funny, entertaining, a great summer read!
- By Amy Brown on 06-19-23
By: Christina Lynch
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Six More Months of June
- By: Daisy Garrison
- Narrated by: Georgia Garrison, Jesse Aaronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Golden boy Caplan and bookish Mina have been unlikely soulmates since third grade. Bound by growing up in single-mother households on the same cul-de-sac in Two Docks, Michigan, their friendship exists miraculously outside their high school’s social order. Mina is class valedictorian, expected by her late father’s parents to attend his Ivy alma mater; Caplan is laughing off prom-king predictions and the fear that he’s peaking too soon. When Cap’s skateboard-toting, detention-dodging best friend confesses his feelings for Mina, she is whisked into a social life she never imagined.
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Well written and well read!
- By Ashley on 06-11-24
By: Daisy Garrison
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Return to Valetto
- A Novel
- By: Dominic Smith
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village—and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II—centuries of earthquakes, landslides, and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino—three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother—who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns. But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers.
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Great Start - Lost Interest
- By NK on 09-10-24
By: Dominic Smith
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Off the Air
- By: Christina Estes
- Narrated by: Marcella Black
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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When word gets out about a death at a radio station, Jolene and other journalists swarm the scene, intent on reporting the facts first. The body is soon identified as Larry Lemmon, a controversial talk-show host, who died under suspicious circumstances. Jolene conducted his final interview, giving her and her station an advantage. But not for long. As the story heats up, so does the competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. It’s an investigation that could make or break her career—if it doesn't break her first.
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A glimpse behind the curtain.
- By Michael Goslin on 06-24-24
By: Christina Estes
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Murder in Postscript
- By: Mary Winters
- Narrated by: Ella Lynch
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Amelia Amesbury—widow, mother, and countess—has a secret. Amelia writes for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners under the pen name Lady Agony. But when a lady’s maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered—and then ends up a victim herself—Amelia is determined to solve the case.
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Riddled with historical inaccuracies
- By Neave on 05-29-23
By: Mary Winters
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The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
- A Novel
- By: Katie Lumsden
- Narrated by: Olivia Vinall
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s 1852 and Margaret Lennox, a young widow, attempts to escape the shadows of her past by taking a position as governess to an only child, Louis, at an isolated country house in the west of England. But Margaret soon starts to feel that something isn’t quite right. There are strange figures in the dark, tensions between servants, and an abandoned east wing. Even stranger is the local gossip surrounding Mrs. Eversham, Louis’s widowed mother, who is deeply distrusted in the village.
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ugh
- By CFrame on 04-20-23
By: Katie Lumsden
What listeners say about Holiday Country
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Barbara S
- 01-24-24
meditative coming-of-age tale
“Holiday Country” by Inci Arek is a meditative story set in Ayvalik Turkey, on the Aegean seacoast.
Every summer since the age of 4, Ada, our narrator, is commanded to visit her grandmother with her mother to this tiny town. It’s one of those towns that not much happens, and all the villagers know everything about you, and your generational line, who your people are. Ada holds fond memories of learning to swim and becoming a competitive swimmer as a result.
Ada’s maternal grandmother, Mukadder, dictates Ada and her mother, Meltem, to visit her when Ada is not in school where they live, in San Francisco. Mukadder is displeased that Meltem married an American man and moved to the USA, abandoning her. This year is different for Ada in that she found out her father has been unfaithful to her mother, leaving her mother unmoored. Additionally, Ada is now 19, at an age when she’s contemplating her own life choices.
Ada unexpectantly meets a man who Meltem had a romantic past, Ada dreams of a life her mother could have had. Ada wants her mother happy, yet her grandmother makes that difficult. Ada gets herself in a mess, trying to orchestrate a romance for her mother.
The reason to read this book is the quiet prose. Some of my favorites:
Exploration destroys a woman! There is no reason to discover!
It is important in life to allow. Your life should move slow like water. You shouldn’t fight against fate.
Wherever you are, and you will be in many places, you must learn to move fluidly.
Rebellion is a different form of obedience.
To really understand one’s secrets you have to watch them tell it.
I don’t like nice. Nice can destroy you. My father was nice.
Ada contemplates her Turkish heritage, how she’ll keep her roots once she is no longer controlled by her grandmother. It’s a young adult coming of age. Ada sees her mother, grandmother, and herself differently after the summer.
I enjoyed this because I have not read much fiction by female Turkish authors and I enjoyed the observations, especially with Ada contemplating ways of maintaining her roots, while allowing growth in the USA.
I listened to the audio, narrated expertly by Ayse Babahan.
Audio length: 9 hrs. 17 minutes
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- Phoenixonfire
- 02-09-24
Meh
Narrator mispronounced basic word and had such a deadpan read for the main character that it detracts from the story. Also unlikable protagonist
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- ZAA
- 02-12-24
Great book.
This book is calm, vivid and informative. It helps the reader experience nuances that belong to a different culture. It is amazing to experience the dynamics between generations of family members as well as neighbors and friends. Atrek gives just enough detail to visualize the beautiful environment without drowning the reader in dragging commentary. I enjoyed the narrator a lot as well, Ayse Babahan is clearly bilingual and flawlessly can switch between accents as well as languages. If you enjoy the writings of Elif Batuman, you will definitely enjoy Inci Atrek's Holiday Country. Looking forward to Atrek's upcoming work. I am definitely a fan.
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- Sanda
- 02-01-24
beautiful narration
The book is beautiful. Very nostalgic and relatable if you also are a Turkish immigrant in the US and spend your summers in Tukey.
The narration was amazing. I loved that the narrator is turkish and speaks english with no accent but when it comes to act the turkish characters she starts this subtle accent.
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