10 h 18 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What shows through when summer loosens the routines that usually hold a family together?
In The Long Vacation, Charlotte Mary Yonge turns a summer break into a quiet space for discovery. Study and daily routines fall away, and young people begin to find their feet. Family ties and friendships shape their days, while the freedom of a holiday brings questions of character into view.
This Victorian family novel explores rest, reflection, faith and duty with a gentle moral purpose. Brothers and sisters, cousins, friends and older guides affect one another through their relationships. Beneath the pleasant holiday setting lies a searching question: can time away from work help a person return with a clearer understanding of themselves?
What you’ll discover
- Summer beyond the routine Enter a holiday setting where familiar habits loosen and character becomes easier to see.
- Young people finding their feet Follow youthful reflection as family and friendship help shape a growing sense of self.
- The ties of family Explore how siblings, cousins and older guides influence one another within a shared family world.
- Rest with a purpose Consider a view of rest that asks for renewal, not simply a way to fill time.
- Gentle questions of duty Spend time with a kindly story that invites you to look honestly at everyday responsibilities.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy Victorian family sagas, seaside summers, church and village life, amateur theatricals and warm, witty talk, and anyone who likes to follow a whole cast of cousins, aunts and uncles across a year.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An invalid and his devoted household
- Rockquay and the lively Merrifield clan
- The Mouse-trap and a clever young pen
- Rescue in Anscombe Cove
- Strong drink and the Butterfly's shop
- A masque in the making
- Old ideas and new in the younger generation
- Bazaar day, a flight and first loves
- How the story is told and what it is about
Who’s who
- Gerald UnderwoodThe slight, witty young heir of Vale Leston, bored with comfort and drawn to a life of purpose among ordinary people.
- Geraldine GrinsteadA lame, kind widow who nurses her brother Clement and tries to understand her nephew without nagging him.
- Clement UnderwoodA London vicar worn out by overwork, sent to the sea to rest and still carrying his family's troubles.
- Lancelot UnderwoodThe cheerful newspaper editor and gifted singer who organises the masque and watches over Gerald.
- Anna VanderkistGerald's good-natured cousin, who gives up a London season to care for her uncle and her small brother.
- Dolores MohunA young woman from New Zealand who wants to study science and lecture, and who sees Gerald clearly.
- Adrian VanderkistA proud, sturdy small baronet at school in Rockquay, whose uncles try to protect him from his father's weakness.
- Gillian MerrifieldThe clever, prickly Merrifield girl, who wants a college education and fears being swept into love.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 18 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear La lunga vacanza in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La lunga vacanza
by Charlotte M. Yonge · 1895
A fragile young heir, a seaside bazaar and a masque of The Tempest bring a Victorian family to a hidden crisis.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Long Vacation is a family novel by Charlotte M. Yonge, written late in her career as a sequel to her story of the Underwood household.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An invalid and his devoted household
The story opens in London in spring, with Gerald Underwood bounding up the stairs to greet his aunt, Mrs. Geraldine Grinstead. She is a small, lame widow in a crape veil, and her brother Clement, the vicar of St. Matthew's, lies ill upstairs. Gerald is the orphan heir of Vale Leston, a country estate. He was born in America, was hurt as a small child in an attack that killed his father, and has grown up in the care of his English uncles and aunts.
The opening chapters also bring the reader up to date on the family. Clement has barely survived a fever caught in a poor and unhealthy mission district. His sister Geraldine, widowed after a gentle marriage to an older sculptor, has lost her sense of purpose, and his illness is the first thing to rouse her. Their brother Lance, a newspaper editor and gifted singer, arrives full of cheer and plans to move his large family back above the office of the Pursuivant.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about La lunga vacanza
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Long Vacation by Charlotte Yonge about?
It follows the Underwood family during a summer at the seaside town of Rockquay, where an ailing vicar rests, young people raise money for a church school with a bazaar and a masque, and the heir Gerald faces a private crisis.
Do I need to read the earlier Underwood novel first?
No. The Long Vacation fills in the family history in its opening chapters, so a new reader can follow who each brother, sister and cousin is, and enjoy the book as its own story.
Who is Gerald Underwood?
He is the young heir of Vale Leston, born in America, raised by his English aunts and uncles, and torn between his comfortable inheritance and his wish to live among working people and write.
The author
Charlotte Mary Yonge
1823–1901 · English novelist and editor
Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823–1901) was an English novelist and editor. She was born in Otterbourne, Hampshire, and lived there throughout her life. She wrote The Heir of Redclyffe, published in 1853, and novels for adults and children. She also edited The Monthly Packet, a magazine founded in 1851.
More by Charlotte M. Yonge
All 2 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
