The Fortnight in September, by RC Sherriff

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The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff: Episode 3

Episode 3

The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff

BBC Radio 4 - The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff, Episode 3

On the train to Bognor, Mrs Stevens reflects on an unfortunate time in her husband’s life.

As the train makes its way towards Bognor Regis, the Stevens family begins to relax, and Mrs Stevens reflects on an unfortunate event in her husband’s life.

‘The man on his holidays becomes the man he might have been, the man he could have been, had things worked out a little differently.  All men are equal on their holidays’.

In his autobiography, RC Sherriff describes how he had the idea for The Fortnight in September during his own holiday in Bognor Regis, when he started to wonder about the lives of the ordinary people he saw coming and going there. 

He found himself itching to write about an imaginary family – Mr and Mrs Stevens and their three children, one still at school and two on the verge of adulthood –  leaving their house in Dulwich and travelling by train to stay in a boarding house by the sea for two weeks. Deceptive in its simplicity and brimming with poignant observation, Sherriff describes how the family while away the days with beach cricket and swimming in the sea, and the warm evenings strolling along the promenade and listening to the band playing on the bandstand. He explores the importance of a break from work and humdrum routines, giving people an opportunity to reconnect with family, some time to reflect and make resolutions, and perhaps a chance for some romance or an adventure. 

Sherriff’s understated novel, published in 1931, celebrates an era when going abroad was still the privilege of the few, and returning to the simple pleasures and familiar rituals of an English seaside holiday was the much-anticipated yearly treat for the majority.

Written by RC Sherriff
Reader:  Adrian Scarborough
Abridger:  Sara Davies
Producer:  Alexa Moore

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An ordinary London family in the 1930s takes a seaside holiday in Bognor Regis.

In Sherriff's understated novel, published in 1931, an ordinary London family takes their annual seaside holiday in Bognor Regis.

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