Many years ago, Mr. Golightly wrote a work of dramatic fiction that grew to be an astonishing international bestseller. But his reputation is on the decline and he finds himself badly out of touch with the modern world. He decides to take a holiday and comes to the historic village of Great Calne, hoping to use the opportunity to bring his great work up to date. But he soon finds that events take over his plans and that the themes he has written on are being strangely replicated in the lives of the villagers around him. As he comes to know his neighbors better, Mr. Golightly begins to examine his attitude toward love and to ponder the terrible catastrophe of his only son's death -- so, too, we begin to learn the true and extraordinary identity of Mr. Golightly. “A writer of delicacy and insight.” ― The Seattle Times “Beautifully turned...quite clever and laced with genteel moments of emotional depth.” ― Newsday “[ Mr. Golightly's Holiday ] invites you to sit back and consider the large issues of remorse, redemption, and creation.” ― The Boston Globe “[ Mr. Golightly's Holiday ] sparkles with gems of greatness.” ― The Oklahoman “Wonderfully wry...a clever idea.” ― The Baltimore Sun "A writer of delicacy and insight."-- The Seattle Times Many years ago, Mr. Golightly wrote a work of dramatic fiction that grew to be an astonishing international bestseller. But his reputation is on the decline and he finds himself badly out of touch with the modern world. He decides to take a holiday and comes to the historic village of Great Calne, hoping to use the opportunity to bring his great work up to date. But he soon finds that events take over his plans and that the themes he has written on are being strangely replicated in the lives of the villagers around him. As he comes to know his neighbors better, Mr. Golightly begins to examine his attitude toward love and to ponder the terrible catastrophe of his only son's death -- so, too, we begin to learn the true and extraordinary identity of Mr. Golightly. "Beautifully turned...quite clever and laced with genteel moments of emotional depth."-- Newsday "[ Mr. Golightly's Holiday ] invites you to sit back and consider the large issues of remorse, redemption, and creation."-- The Boston Globe "[ Mr. Golightly's Holiday ] sparkles with gems of greatness."-- The Oklahoman "Wonderfully wry...a clever idea."-- The Baltimore Sun Sally Vicers, a former university lecturer in literature, is a trained analytical psychologist and lectures widely on the connections between literature, psychology, and religion. She is the author of Miss Garnet's Angel and Instances of the Number 3 . She lives in London and Bath. Salley Vickers has worked as a dancer, an artist’s model, a university professor of literature, and a psychoanalyst. She is the author of fiction including Miss Garnet's Angel , Instances of the Number 3 , and Mr Golightly's Holiday . She lives in London and now writes full-time. MR. GOLIGHTLY'S HOLIDAY MARCH 1 O NE AFTERNOON IN MID MARCH, WHEN THE green-white snowdrops had blown ragged under the tangled hawthorn hedges, the pale constellations of primroses had ceased to be a novelty, and the more robust, sun-reflecting daffodils were in their heyday, an old half-timbered Traveller van drove into the village of Great Calne. There was, in fact, no other Calne, great or small, in the county of Devon; or if there ever had been, it had long since vanished into the indifferent encroachments of the moor. Great Calne stands at the edge of Dartmoor, one of the ancient tracts of land which still, in the twenty-first century, lends out its grazing free to the common people of England -- though it must be said that the 'common people' are something of a scarcity these days.Sam Noble, out walking his bitch, Daphne, named for his mother's still-born twin sister, and having nothing better to do, watched with naked curiosity as the driver of the car negotiated the corner by the Stag and Badger -- where, thanks to the pub's garden wall, the passage was tight and drivers often came a cropper. He was mildly disappointed when nothing untoward occurred. Sam's was not an especially malicious nature, but Great Calne did not provide the thrills he had once been used to. Before his retirement, Sam had been a film director, and had had hopes of winning thePalme d'Or at Cannes with a film about women jockeys which had subsequently made waves. However, for the past five years he had lived in Great Calne, where the principal excitement was provided by Morning Claxon's plans to transform the tearooms into an alternative health centre.There was another witness to the arrival of the car, a less obvious one. Johnny Spence had, as usual, skipped school and it wasn't safe for him to show his face till after four o'clock. During the stranger's arrival, Johnny was hiding, as was his habit, in the upper branches of a yew tree which spread its antique shade over the churchyard wall and on