Although the blurbs and the cover give the impression that Leisure is simply a holiday story about sex, sun, dancing, and drugs on Spain’s Costa Del Sol, it’s really much more than that. The central figures are an overweight virgin, Pasternak, and a couple, Shaun and Hilary, whose marriage is in deep trouble. Pasternak is in many ways a repellent character, — loud, self-pitying, drunk, and obnoxious. He and his drinking buddies go on holiday and on their first night meet up with a group of young Dutch women, and soon they all pair off and have sex, except for Pasternak. But there is depth to the lad, because he is successful in business and he has real insight into other people’s fears and foibles. His own fears about girls make him avoid possible relationships, even though he desperately wants a girlfriend. Luckily for him, one of the girls sees past his bluster to his heart of gold, but he does his best to put her off him. The tension in this plot line is whether she can break down his defenses.

Less clichéd is the relationship between Shaun and Hilary. Their marriage is in a terrible state — they haven’t had sex for two years — but they still love each other. Hilary suggested the holiday as a make-or-break event in their marriage, where they would see if they could sort out their problems. But it seems that even though they still find each other attractive, and still are able to look at each other with longing, there is too much anger and frustration in their relationship for them to make their marriage work.

Even here, some of the details are hackneyed, reminiscent of a romance novel. Shaun is physically perfect, with long blond hair, piercing blue eyes, a great body including a huge penis. At one point, Shaun is walking down a village road on his own, with bleeding hands and knees, and a group of nuns become hysterical, mistaking him for Jesus Christ. It is at points like this that the book crosses the line between being comic and laughable. But for the most part Kevin Sampson manages to keep the plot fast-paced and very readable while conveying some sense of the agony of a marriage in crisis and the temptations of starting new relationships.

The book as a whole is an enjoyable read. My favorite parts were the descriptions of Shaun’s appreciation of the exquisite Spanish countryside, with its proud but poor people and breathtaking local architecture. Shaun’s passion for exploring away from the tourist areas is powerfully conveyed, and what’s more, it makes me want to visit Spain and see the beauty for myself.

© 2001 Christian Perring

Categories: Fiction