Excess Baggage

by Judy Astley

A family holiday was the last thing Lucy was expecting to have. But as a penniless house-painter with an expired lease on her flat and a 12-year-old daughter, she could hardly turn down her parents' offer to take them on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Caribbean.

287 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Judy Astley started writing in 1990 following several years of working as a dressmaker, illustrator, painter and parent. Her sixteen novels, the most recent of which are Laying The Ghost and Other People¹s Husbands, are all published by Transworld/Black Swan. Judy¹s specialist areas, based on many years of hectic personal experience, are domestic disharmony and family chaos with a good mix of love-and-passion and plenty of humour thrown in. Judy has been a regular columnist on magazines and enjoys writing journalism pieces on just about any subject, usually from a fun viewpoint. She lives in London and Cornwall, loves plants, books, hot sunshine and rock music (all at once, preferably) and would happily claim that listening in to other people¹s conversations is both a top hobby and an absolute career-necessity

Reviews

[cherry · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star- didn't enjoy.

This probably should've been a DNF, but I've a bad tendency to push through🥲 The cast was too big to properly follow with this audiobook, and I was confused about who was who throughout the entire book. There was little development for each characters' relationship, and the sheer number of individuals and relationships in this made it difficult to remember what development there was. The writing was bland. The plot points didn't culminate to anything, and the plot was slow and didn't hold my attention. The rare scenes that snagged my attention were all for the wrong reasons— one of the main characters refused to give her nanny a break, despite the nanny asking politely for one. Character went on to whine and complain and about how entitled these paid helpers were, and how difficult it was to care for children alone (which the nanny had been doing lol). Other, MARRIED characters lusted after young girls graphically. There was even a scene I'd say was sexual abuse, where characters pulled down this guy's pants and laughed at what he had, saying it couldn't compare to the home-grown ones they had on the island. That scene was written in a way that tried to convey it as a joke, and while the victim wasn't a good person, no one should be assaulted and humiliated like that. Overall, this book mostly bored and confused me, but in the rare moments it did not, I was grossed out and shocked instead. Wouldn't recommend.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lucy is dreading the "Proper Family Holiday" that is in prospect. She has been struggling as a house painter with an uneventful love life and a 12-year-old daughter when her parents suggest that she forgets about the expired lease on her flat and joins them (along with her surly sister Theresa and vaguely paranoid brother Simon) on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Caribbean. For this, the siblings have been told to bring along children and even au pairs. But what is their parents' agenda? Quickly, the tensions that divide the family at home come bubbling to the surface and, in the course of some fraught situations, Lucy's life is not the only one to be changed irrevocably."

A light and entertaining read.

[Carol North · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was easy to read and even though there were a lot of characters I managed to keep up with who was who without too much trouble. Lucy and her twelve year old daughter are invited to go on an all expenses paid family holiday that has been arranged and paid for by her parents. Lucy is a painter and decorator who's van has been clamped and about to be towed away. The lease on her flat is up and she's broke. What she needs is a holiday. Maybe not a Caribbean island holiday in the hurricane season though. With the whole family there and every age group represented there's bound to be some friction and some laughs. On the whole it was all a little bit predictable but still a good read.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Funny in places. Like Judy Astley books.

[julie keegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

very enjoyable

Lighthearted and entertains. Judy Astley always has some very entertaining characters and situations, that make you smile. A very enjoyable book.

[Ro · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always a great read. Anything by this author can be difficult to put down. Great holiday reading.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read in 2001